Lashings of Lotto loot on wish list for Cynthia

BIG DREAMS: Cynthia Tranter-Watson hopes Linda Zhuang from AJ's Lotto has sold her the winning ticket in today's Powerball-Lotto jackpot draw. SANDRA CONCHIE

Cambridge Heights retiree Cynthia Tranter-Watson dreams of winning the big one and hopes to become the country's newest Lotto multimillionaire.

With the Powerball jackpot hitting $16 million and a total of $17.1 million in prizes up for grabs today, she says: "You've got to dream, don't you ?"

Mrs Tranter-Watson, who bought a $18 Super Power Dip at AJ's Lotto store yesterday, said she and her husband had played Lotto since it started. The couple and their daughter had used the same numbers for years.

Although they had picked up only a few small wins, including $600 a few years ago, it hadn't stopped them dreaming, and "having a bit of fun", Mrs Tranter-Watson said.

They never splashed out buying more tickets even if the big prize got bigger, she said.

"If we don't win anything I'm not too worried because I know some of the money is going to charitable organisations to help other people in need."

Mrs Tranter-Watson said if they won the big prize, she and her husband would knock down the house they had lived in for 12 years and rebuild, and it would have to include an art studio, and her daughter had talked about leaving work and starting a business.

"It's definitely a lot of money and it would really worry me having that amount to spend. It could be really easy to spend up large on things you don't really need.

"I think it would be really important to take some financial advice and think hard before splashing out unwisely."

Despite Powerball jackpotting, AJ's Lotto was not "crazy busy" yesterday, store staff said.

Five lucky women and five men have become instant multimillionaires as a result of Powerball and Big Wednesday this year, winning an average prize of $11.94 million each.

"It doesn't matter where you live, what your gender is, whether you're married or single, every player has just as much a chance of winning as any of this year's biggest winners," said Emilia Mazur, head of Lotto's corporate communications.

"We're looking forward to seeing what happens this weekend ... we could be popping champagne and handing a lucky player $16 million on Monday."