Just what happened to Lotto winner Trevor who went public with his $27 million win?
Wednesday, 13 January 2016
Most Lotto millionaires winners win quietly, but a handful of high-profile mega-winners have opted to share the news of their good fortune with the general public.
One of the most high-profile winners in New Zealand was Trevor Cooper, 37, from Te Kauwhata.
In 2012, he was working as a checkout operator at Countdown in Huntly when he won $27 million.
Where's he got to now?
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'Nothing is going to change. At the end of the day my bank balance is a phone number, but I love my job,' Cooper said when he won.
Initially, he wasted no time at all and was soon enjoying himself in off-road buggies, including racing in the United States, although he said he would continue to work as a checkout operator.
But he was soon investing heavily in property.
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According to official records, he owns a dairy farming company with his wife Sharie with a registered address in Tauranga.
They also own properties in Pukekohe, the wider Tauranga area, Coromandel, the Bay of Plenty and Rotorua, according to property searches.
It was reported a Karaka mansion Cooper bought for $2.2m was sold for $2.5m in 2014.
He married Waihi woman Sharie Marshall in Karaka in 2013.
Neither Cooper nor his wife appear to be listed on the electoral rolls in the areas where they own properties, although registered voters can choose an unpublished listing.
There were two on MyLotto, which is the online sales channel. They were $15.7m in 2013 and $13m in 2015.
MOVING ON
Te Kauwhata Foodmarket owner Jesal Patel said Cooper was jumping around the dairy when he called in to check the numbers on a Powerball ticket in 2012.
After the win, the store attracted a steady stream of customers and big-prize wins were a great selling point that continues nowadays, he said.
'After winning the big $26.5 million our sales of Lotto have remained constant. On the day of the result he [Cooper] came to me and checked his ticket.
'He was jumping at the time.'
Cooper was back in the store in Te Kauwhata, a small dairy town with about 1300 residents, about two or three times after that, then he 'skipped town' and started buying property and land, Patel said.
WINNING BIG
Since Lotto started, 87 people have won at least $5 million and while the majority prefer to remain anonymous there have been some high-profile winners who have chosen to go public, such as a family from Masterton who won $36.8m with Big Wednesday in 2009.
The odds of winning the New Zealand lottery are about one in 38 million for Powerball and one in 32 million for Big Wednesday.
Cooper's win stands as the third largest single ticket win in New Zealand.
GAMBLING
Lotteries are, of course, a form of gambling.
A 2008 report by the Auckland University of Technology found lotteries were widely viewed as socially acceptable, including in New Zealand, they were seen as a 'legitimate' form of gambling or a secondary form of gambling and younger people were more susceptible to lottery advertising.
Regular scratchcard players have a higher risk of developing gambling problems, the AUT review said.
In the 2014 financial year, the Lotteries Commission paid out $537.3m worth of prizes on 28,093,800 winning tickets.
Thirty-three people became millionaires, 18 of them multi-millionaires and, in 2013, there were five wins exceeding $10m.
Perhaps a more modest win is better.
Hamilton grandfather Trevor Taukiri said memories of working hard to support his whanau made a $200,000 win all the more special in 2011.
'You don't forget those times but this money now means I can start planning a future for my grandchildren,' the 71-year-old told the Waikato Times.
A Lotto spokeswoman said it takes time for winners to come to terms with newfound wealth.
'There's no doubt that winning a big lottery prize can be a life-changing moment and it's our job to help make sure this very special time in the winner's life is as enjoyable as possible.'
ADVICE
What advice does Lotto give to big-prize winners?
'Winning a major prize is an amazing time in our winners' lives, with the win bringing with it a raft of emotions from excited and stunned to a little bit nervous – we've seen it all. And we're are on hand to point our winners in the right direction.'
Advice to winners tells the newly minted millionaires to think about who they tell, seek professional financial advice and create a financial plan and think before they spend.
As for Lotto advice on the odds of winning and gambling, a spokeswoman said the games were based on a large number of people paying a small amount to try to win and advice on responsible gaming was available.
'At all times Lotto encourages our customers to play responsibly,' she said
The New Zealand Government introduced a lottery in 1961 and Lotto was created in 1986.
* An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated that Cooper had been photographed in Nelson this week.