Want to enter the $43m jackpot draw? Don't leave it until the last minute, Lotto NZ warns

Tuesday, 11 August 2020

People who acquire sudden wealth, whether from a divorce settlement, a lottery win, or selling a farm or other business, can find it hard to cope, depending on which 'money personality' they have.

Hopeful millionaires don’t appear to be very organised.

Over 50 per cent of online tickets sold in last Wednesday’s $34 million Lotto draw were purchased on the day of the draw. Between 5pm and 7.30pm there were 4000 transactions a minute.

Technical issues stemming from increased web traffic resulted in some customers buying tickets online but not receiving them. The glitch happened at around 6.30pm, an hour before ticket sales closed.

Lotto NZ is warning customers eager to buy a ticket in Wednesday’s $43m draw to get in early.

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Customers buying tickets online are being warned to get organised early.

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“When too many people are on the site at once it can slow down, which we know isn’t great for customers,” said Lotto NZ’s head of communications Marie Winfield.

“The best way for people to avoid this, and guarantee they have a ticket for the big draw, is to buy their tickets early and avoid peak times.”

Since March, the number of people playing online has increased by 33 per cent – an unprecedented amount for the company.

Technical issues were also experienced before February’s $50m must-be-won draw. After the numbers were drawn for the $42m jackpot, customers reported having trouble checking their tickets through the app.

The shift to online-focused sales has been attributed to habits altered by the nationwide Covid-19 lockdown – around 38 per cent of all sales are now online.

Demand at the country’s luckiest stores has remained steady. Ahead of Saturday’s $38m draw, many shopfronts saw queues snake out the door.

Hastings’ Unichem Stortford Lodge Pharmacy has held the title of the country’s “luckiest” store for years. The store has sold 49 first division tickets over the years amounting to $39m in winnings.

Online ticket sales close at 7.30pm on Wednesday.