An Auckland woman had the Mother's Day of a lifetime after her husband revealed they'd won $10.5 million in Lotto's Powerball.
The couple, who wish to remain anonymous, are regular players and bought a Triple Dip hoping to win $10,000 in the Mother's Day promotion.
"My wife forgot to buy a Dip when she was out, so I bought one on MyLotto on Saturday afternoon," the man explained.
"I didn't pay any attention to the Lotto results that evening as I was too busy watching the rugby - Blues versus Crusaders."
Although the rugby result wasn't what he hoped for - the Crusaders beat the Blues 15-3 - he had no idea he was about to wake up to a life-changing surprise.
"The following morning, I was checking my emails as usual and noticed a couple from Lotto," he explained.
"One said I'd won a major prize, which seemed odd. I thought maybe I'd won the Mother's Day promo prize."
But it was a bit more than $10,000.
"I quickly logged onto MyLotto to check my ticket and couldn't believe it when I saw all my numbers line up! I was speechless - I never expected to win Powerball," he said.
Despite the magnitude of his win, the man was determined to keep the news a secret from his wife.
"I wanted to surprise the family at our special Mother's Day lunch, so I just went about my morning like normal."
The man waited until after lunch, when everyone was still seated around the family table, before unveiling the life-altering news.
"At first, they couldn't believe it," the man said.
"They thought it was a joke. But after I showed them my ticket and replayed the draw on my phone, and they could see it happen, they realised it was real.
"My wife was very happy," the man laughed.
"She wondered how I managed to keep it so quiet, but I'm good at keeping a secret."
The couple plan to use their win to help out their family and donate to several charities.
"It's important for us to give back to the community."
Saturday night's winner is the eighth Powerball multi-millionaire of 2023, Lotto said.
The prize is made up of $10 million from Powerball First Division and $500,000 from Lotto First Division.
