Lotto prize money is again climbing high, with a huge $18 million up for grabs on Saturday night.
This is made up of $1 million in first division and a giant $17 million Powerball prize. Strike has reached $200,000 tonight as well. Lotto says ticket sales close at 7:30pm.
On Wednesday two lucky winners took home $500,000 each after splitting first division. The winning tickets were sold at Four Square Picton and on MyLotto to a player from Otago.
And just last weekend, an "occasional" Porirua Lotto player experienced a "surreal feeling" when he won $1 million in the first division draw.
He put on a movie and forgot about the draw - but when it finished, he checked the results on his phone.
"Watching the number roll down and match the ones on my ticket one by one," said the man, who didn't want to be identified.
"By the time I had four numbers, I started laughing, and when all six matched, I thought, 'hang on, there's something wrong with my phone.'"
The man said he stared at his phone for 20 minutes in disbelief when a pop-up read 'You've won $1,000,000!'.
He added he was up until 3:30am, prioritising how to spend his winnings.
First on the list is helping out his whānau, and he also said he intends to keep working.
"I love my job. This win is a nice bonus for me."
