Lotto Powerball: Dunedin punter wins final jackpot of 2024, taking home $4.3 million

One very lucky Lotto Powerball punter from Dunedin has ended the year $4.3 million richer tonight.

The winning ticket, bought from Whitcoulls on George St, Dunedin is made up of $4m via Powerball and $333,333 from Lotto First Division.

Two other winners have taken home $333,333 each for their share of Division One. Those tickets were bought from Fresh Choice Mangere Bridge in Auckland and New World Bishopdale in Christchurch.

Strike Four went unstruck and rolls over to $800,000 for Wednesday night’s draw.

Tonight’s winning numbers were 9, 2, 36, 19, 30, and 26. The Bonus Ball was 13 and the Powerball was 4.

The top prize on offer tonight was $5 million; including $4m via Powerball and $1m from Lotto first division.

The special draw also offered 100 prizes of $50,000 up for grabs and all Triple Dip tickets bought between Sunday, December 8, and 7.30pm today.

Earlier this week, one punter scored a boom Christmas present, winning $5.3m.

Two other players were also celebrating after winning $333,333 with Lotto First Division.

The winning tickets were sold at Ōpōtiki Pharmacy in Ōpōtiki and on MyLotto to a player from Tauranga.

Christmas Day’s draw was part of what Lotto described as its “biggest Christmas ever” with $6m in extra prizes to be won this promotion period.

It comes less than two weeks after a New Plymouth player won more than $23m in the fifth-largest prize of the year.

Four months ago, another lucky Aucklander equalled the biggest single-player prize in New Zealand Lotto history, winning $44m.

The total prize they won from the ticket bought on MyLotto was $44,066,667, which included a one-15th share of the Division One prize.

The jackpot on offer in tonight's Lotto Christmas draw was $5 million.

Meanwhile, in June, a record $50m Powerball jackpot was split between seven people, netting them each $7.1m.

It took almost a month for the final winner to come forward and collect their portion of the winnings.

Lotto NZ said it took responsible gambling seriously and reminded customers gifting its products as presents over the Christmas period to only give them to adults.

What to do if you win

Ticketholders can see immediately if they have won if they purchased a ticket through MyLotto. Prizes of $1000 or less are automatically credited to the account.

For prizes of more than $1000, winners have to fill in an online prize form.

Results are available immediately after the live draws on TVNZ 1, which take place on Wednesday and Saturday nights.

They can also be found through the MyLotto app, online at www.mylotto.co.nz, at Lotto NZ retailers and on nzherald.co.nz.

Winners with a physical ticket must still visit a Lotto retailer to claim their prize.

For the Powerball jackpot to be claimed, a ticket-holder must get all six Lotto numbers correct as well as the added Powerball number.

If the jackpot is not claimed, it will roll over each draw until it is won, or reaches the must-be-won limit.

If more than one person wins Powerball, the jackpot is shared equally between the winning tickets.

A total of 23 punters have now struck the jackpot in 2024 and been crowned multimillionaires.

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