Lotto Powerball: $15 million prize not struck, rolls over to $17m

The $15 million prize was not struck in tonight's midweek draw.

The Lotto Powerball balls did not fall kindly for those hoping to take home the $15 million prize pool in tonight’s midweek draw.

The prize will be larger on Saturday, as the jackpot has rolled over to $17m.

Tonight’s numbers were 03, 06, 09, 11, 19 and 27. The bonus ball was 23 and the Powerball was 06.

Five Lotto players from Auckland, Waikato and Ashburton shared $1 million in First Division, each winning $200,000.

The draw comes a month after a Wairoa player won $10.3m.

The winner, who the Herald understands is a solo mother, said via the New Zealand Lotteries Commission life had been a “blur” since her win.

It had been a year filled with “challenges”, so the family was “thankful for this prize and looking forward to the future”.

Some of the winnings would be used to help their whānau.

A Christchurch couple - who this year won one of the largest Lotto draws in recent history - kept their ticket hidden in a sock drawer for days while they worked out what they would do with their winnings.

The couple, who wished to remain anonymous, said they were overwhelmed by the magnitude of the $33.5m win on June 28 and needed time to process it before coming forward.

The woman said she had been busy doing chores on the night of the draw, and so it wasn’t until quite late that she decided to check her ticket.

“I had been busy doing a few things, and then I thought I may as well check my ticket before I went to bed.

“I looked the numbers up online and started checking each line of the ticket.

“The winning line was right at the bottom, and the numbers just sort of jumped out at me – all of them,” she said.

“I couldn’t breathe at first – I was almost hyperventilating.”

The woman said her husband had already gone to bed and she had to wake him up to confirm the prize.

“I woke him up and said, ‘Can you please check this for me? These numbers are dancing on the paper. Is it actually real?’”

After her husband confirmed the jackpot was real, the couple said it was hard to go back to sleep.

The couple said they were in no rush to claim their prize the next day – or even the next week.

“We wanted to keep things normal while we thought about our next steps.”

But with such a life-changing event, sleep was hard to come by, they said.

“I’d keep things cool during the day but then come home and cry – tears of happiness, of course, but it was also a lot to take in,” the woman said.

The couple said they had kept their yellow ticket hidden in a sock drawer.

It was “nerve-racking” to know they had more than $33m sitting there, they said.