Free ticket proves golden for big Lotto winners

They say there is no such thing as a free lunch, but for one Christchurch woman a free line of Strike was worth its weight in gold after winning $624,922 in Saturday's Lotto draw. Photo / File

One bonus has turned into a much bigger one for a Christchurch couple now $624,922 richer.

The couple had won a bonus ticket of a free line of Strike with a Lotto ticket bought in November - and it turned out to carry the lucky numbers in Saturday night's draw.

The woman who purchased the original ticket, and who wished to remain anonymous, found out she'd won when her husband checked their ticket in bed just before turning in for the night.

"He'd written down all the winning numbers and was in bed checking them off on our ticket when all of a sudden he just sprang out of bed and said 'Oh my God'," said the winner.

"I just replied, 'Oooh, we haven't won Lotto have we?' I thought we might have won $400 if we were lucky.

"The next thing I knew he was back at the computer double checking that he had written the numbers down correctly - he wouldn't tell me anything until he was sure.

"Then he gave me the ticket to check and all I kept thinking was this can't be true - it was so surreal.

"We didn't get a wink of sleep that night."

The couple had won bonus Strike tickets before, but had never paid them much thought; "you certainly never think you'll win big with that one little line. Even now I still can't believe it."

With the money now safely in the winner's bank account, the couple have celebrated their win with their immediate family.

"The evening after we won we went out for a family dinner and splashed out on some champagne to celebrate.

"To be honest it hasn't really sunk in yet."

The winning ticket was purchased from Unichem Bishopdale Pharmacy on January 14.