$13m Lotto win yet to be claimed

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One lucky Aucklander is yet to claim a late Christmas present of a cool $13 million Lotto win.

The ticket was sold at Magascene in Takapuna on the North Shore and is worth a total of $12,991,369 - with $12,658,036 from Powerball first division and $333,333 from Lotto first division.

Lotto spokeswoman Karen Jones said someone was in for a nice surprise when they checked their ticket and realised they had the winning numbers.

"They could be busy with Christmas and they're not listening to media or checking their ticket. So they might get a big surprise when they get their tickets checked when they're shopping tomorrow or something ... It's a bit of a late Christmas present, but worthwhile."

The lucky winner can claim the prize at any Lotto outlet or can go to the NZ Lotteries head office in Wellington if they want to do it more privately.

"Whenever someone wins a thousand dollars or more, the checking machine shuts down and starts playing the You're In The Money song. Most winners of the larger sums come down to Wellington because they don't want their local Lotto shop owners to know," said Ms Jones.

The prize can either be directly credited into a bank account or the winner can be written a cheque.

"The largest cheque I ever saw was an Australian backpacker's. He came down to Wellington and we wrote him a million-dollar cheque which he popped in his backpack and off he went," said Ms Jones.

NZ Lotteries' offices are closed until Thursday but Ms Jones said someone who claimed the prize with them on Thursday could have the money by Friday. "That would make for quite a good New Year's, I would imagine."

Auckland was the luckiest city in last weekend's draw because all three major prizes were won there. Two other players won a $333,333 share each of Lotto first division. The tickets were purchased at Edmonton Stationery & Lotto in Waitakere and Sweet Lotto Centre in North Shore City.