Lotto Powerball $33 million jackpot: NZ and Bay of Plenty’s luckiest Lotto shops revealed

A large 'lucky' sign sits above the Whakatāne shop's entrance.

The owner of one of New Zealand’s luckiest Lotto stores is betting it can sell another winner ahead of tonight’s $33 million Lotto Powerball jackpot draw.

It has been a year since Whakatāne’s Halfway Store sold a $12m winning ticket and store owner Sophie Sang hoped it could repeat that feat with what, if struck by a single winner, would equal Powerball’s third-highest jackpot ever won.

Wednesday’s “life-changing” $33m prize comes after Saturday night’s $30m jackpot went unstruck.

NZME asked Lotto NZ for New Zealand’s and Bay of Plenty’s top five luckiest stores based on First Division wins in the last 12 months.

A Taranaki and two Auckland stores top the national list, with Whakatāne’s Halfway Store coming in at number four and number one for Bay of Plenty (See full lists below).

It had total wins valued at $12,250,000. Its largest prize won was $12m in Powerball, with $250,000 from Lotto First Division.

Lotto NZ said the odds of winning are “exactly the same no matter how or where you buy your ticket”, but the Halfway store is backing its lucky reputation.

The shop is emblazoned with emblems of luck - from the leprechaun and four-leaf clover behind the counter to the big “lucky” sign at its entrance.

Behind the counter at the Halfway Store are paintings of good luck symbols, with a rainbow, a leprechaun, a pot of gold and a four-leaf clover.

Sang said she was confident she would sell tomorrow’s winning ticket.

“We need it. Whakatāne needs it.”

Sang said the store had been “lucky every year” since it sold its first winning ticket in 1996.

“Our regular customers are too many to count. It doesn’t matter if the prize is $20m or $2m, they come every Wednesday and Saturday.”

The day the $12m was won “everyone was talking about it”, even though they did not know who the customer was, she said.

“We were so excited, and we couldn’t believe it happened in our shop.”

Paper Plus Rotorua Central was ranked Bay of Plenty’s second luckiest Lotto store with $1.4m in winnings sold. Its largest prize won was $1m.

The store’s co-owner Elisha Fleming said being second on the list was an “exciting thing”.

Elisha Fleming, assistant manager and co-owner of Paper Plus Rotorua.

Fleming said he could only hope their store had sold Wednesday’s winning ticket.

“We can always be hopeful, but numbers are what numbers are,” he said.

Bayfair Lotto was the third luckiest Lotto store in the Bay, with a total win value of $550,000 this last year.

When NZME called, the staff were too busy selling tickets to comment.

Lotto NZ described Powerball’s surge to $33m as “life-changing”.

The last time a lucky punter pocketed $33m was in 2013 after a winning ticket was sold in a shoe repair shop in Ponsonby, Auckland.

Top 5 Bay of Plenty Lotto stores

Based on total prize of First Division won between June 2022 and June 2023

Halfway Store, Whakatāne

Total number of wins: 1

Total win value: $12,250,000

Largest prize won: $12,000,000

Paper Plus Rotorua Central

Total number of wins: 2

Total win value: $1,400,000

Largest prize won: $1,000,000

Bayfair Lotto, Mount Maunganui

Total number of wins: 2

Total win value: $550,000

Largest prize won: $350,000

Western Heights Foodmarket, Rotorua

Total number of wins: 1

Total win value: $500,000

Largest prize won: $500,000

Ngongotaha Books Lotto and Postshop, Rotorua

Total number of wins: 1

Total win value: $10,000

Largest prize won: $10,000

Pak’nSave Cameron Rd, Tauranga

Total number of wins: 1

Total win value: $10,000

Largest prize won: $10,000

Source: Lotto NZ

Top 5 New Zealand Lotto stores

Based on total prize of First Division won between June 2022 and June 2023

Bell Block Supermarket, Taranaki

Total number of wins: 1

Total win value: $24,000,000

Largest prize won: $23,000,000

Countdown Auckland City

Total number of wins: 1

Total win value: $23,500,000

Largest prize won: $23,000,000

Orewa Lotto Plus, Auckland

Total number of wins: 1

Total win value: $23,333,333

Largest prize won: $23,000,000

Halfway Store, Whakatāne

Total number of wins: 1

Total win value: $12,250,000

Largest prize won: $12,000,000

New World Kaikoura

Total number of wins: 1

Total win value: $8,200,000

Largest prize won: $8,000,000

Source: Lotto NZ

Harriet Laughton is an Auckland University of Technology journalism student.