$16.7m Lotto winner

A lucky Lotto player from Cambridge was the winner of last night's $16.5 million Powerball prize - the third biggest in the game's history.

The winning ticket, bought from Countdown Cambridge, was worth $16,732,750, and included a $216,279 share of the Lotto First Division prize.

Five other players won a share of the First Division windfall. The winning tickets were sold at Sandringham Food Market in Auckland, Foodtown Howick in Manukau, Clevedon Superette in Manukau, Mt Maunganui New World and Raumati South Four Square in Paraparaumu.

A Strike Four prize of $212,727 was won by a player who bought a ticket from Wainoni Pak'N Save in Christchurch. There was also only one winner for Lotto Powerball second division, with the winning ticket worth $59,648.

The two bigger Powerball prizes were $19m to a Palmerston North family last year and $17.9m to the owner of a ticket bought in Henderson in 2006.

Powerball has made several other millionaires this year.

In February two players - one from Masterton and the other from Lower Hutt - shared $10m, and in March a Christchurch player won $4m. Last year a repeating Powerball jackpot saw the prize pool hit $30m. Under the lottery rules the cash prize was dropped to second division and shared by six winning tickets. The other big winner last night was Ashburton grandmother Ethel Hume who won $125,000 on Winning Wheel.