Two thousand Lotto tickets sold a minute in lead-up record to $50 million draw

Saturday, 29 February 2020

Two thousand Lotto tickets are being sold every minute to Kiwis keen for a shot at a must-win $50 million draw.

More than 1.9 million tickets for the record jackpot were sold by Saturday afternoon, Lotto NZ said.

The jackpot hit $50 million after Wednesday's draw rolled over, and must be drawn on Saturday night.

'Stores around the country are buzzing as Kiwis pick up a ticket to be part of Lotto NZ history – we're seeing queues out the door in some places,' Lotto NZ spokeswoman Marie Winfield said.

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Sales typically peak after 5pm, she said, so the busiest time in store and online is still to come.

Buying a house - but not a mansion - for his family and starting a business were among Nicholas Walker's plans if he won the jackpot.

But outlets around New Zealand had a busy day as the draw approached.

Queues started on Friday for Hamilton's Take Note Dinsdale, where punters stretched to the door at points on Saturday afternoon.

Nicholas Walker had his ticket and plans for the $50m if it came his way, including buying a house.

A steady stream of customers came to Hamilton's Take Note Dinsdale on Friday and Saturday, but owner Gurpreet Minhas and the staff worked to keep the line moving.

'I'm not talking about a mansion, he said. 'A nice, decent house with a room each. Obviously a shed to myself so I can build cars and stuff like that.'

He'd take close family out for dinner and donate $10m to the Cancer Society, as he'd watched his partner's mother die from cancer.

It'd be a chance to start a business as a digger operator and truck driver, and he'd invest 'a good chunk'.

'I think $50 million is too much [for a jackpot],' he said. 'I would be happy with $500,000 if I won the lottery, to buy a decent house.'

However, growing jackpots had encouraged him to buy tickets, as he's not a regular player.

If sisters Karen Coughey and Pam Entwisle win, grandchildren and great granchildren are going to get some help with their mortgages.

Take Note Dinsdale owner Gurpreet Minhas said there were a lot of new faces along with the regulars, and they'd kept his two Lotto tills busy.

He and his family were also swept up in the excitement, as usual buying tickets with their special numbers.

'Wouldn't want to miss out on the $50 million,' he said.

Sisters Pam Entwisle and Karen Coughey also bought tickets from Dinsdale, on Saturday afternoon.

It's Entwisle's regular shop and has been lucky for her, but she said the service keeps her coming back.

'The owners are so, so nice,' she said.

A past win paid for Coughey's ticket for Saturday's jackpot, and left a bit of change.

'I used to have my own numbers. I'm random now,' she said. 'And random got me winnings on Wednesday.'

It was easy for the sisters to decide what to do with the winnings: help grandchildren and great grandchildren with their mortgages.

The $50m Powerball must be drawn tonight and is the largest Powerball jackpot in history after a young couple on the Hibiscus Coast won $44m in 2016.

On Wednesday night, the $42m was rolled over as no-one had a winning ticket.

If no single ticket wins Powerball First Division, the prize pool rolls down to the next highest division and the money is shared amongst those winners.

It's the first time Powerball has reached a 'must be won' draw since November 2016.

'Lotto NZ recommends that anyone who wants to be in to win for tonight's draw gets their ticket early to avoid the queues. We wish everyone around the country the best of luck for tonight's draw.'

The current record for tickets entered into a single draw in Lotto history took place in July 2016 when 2.4 million tickets were sold for the $40 million 'must be won' draw.