A Wellington couple became millionaires overnight after their decision to renew their MyLotto subscription for another round paid off.
The couple won the second Powerball win this year, claiming a huge $8.5 million with Lotto Powerball First Division on Saturday.
The man, who wishes to remain anonymous, says it was fate.
“I’ve been buying our tickets using a MyLotto Subscription for a few years now – it’s just really easy and means there’s never a last-minute race to pick up a ticket before the draws,” the man told Lotto in a statement.
“As fate would have it, after Wednesday’s draw I received an email from MyLotto saying my Subscription had finished. I didn’t think too much of it, just logged into MyLotto and restarted it right then and there – and I’m so glad I did!"
It was a sleepless night for the pair after the man decided to log into MyLotto to see if he had any luck.
“My wife and I were having a quiet night at home when I thought I might as well check my Lotto ticket,” the man said.
“I logged into MyLotto and watched as my ticket was checked – the numbers started circling off and they just kept coming, until there they were all in a row. Initially, I thought we’d won $8,500 and thought that was pretty neat."
He told his wife the good news and she raced over to see the screen and to her delight told him they had won a bit more than that.
“We just stared at each other wide-eyed before breaking into a huge hug. It was an unbelievable moment,” the man said.
The couple spent the rest of the night imagining what they would do with the winnings.
“My wife and I had a couple of drinks that night to celebrate – or to calm the nerves, I don’t actually know which,” laughed the man.
“We sat up all night talking until we finally headed to bed around 3 am. To be honest, we only got about an hours’ sleep between us that night, our minds were absolutely buzzing. The whole thing felt so incredibly surreal. It still does, to be honest,” the man said.
The couple looks forward to setting themselves up for the future and helping their immediate family.
