Lotto Powerball: Winning $23.5 million ticket sold at Countdown supermarket in Auckland CBD

One lucky player has won a life-changing $23.5 million in Wednesday night’s Lotto Powerball draw.

The player - who bought the winning ticket from the Countdown Auckland city supermarket in the CBD - becomes the first Powerball multi-millionaire of 2023.

One other Auckland player took home $1 million in yesterday’s “Must Be Won” draw as a part of the Lucky Strike draw.

Another Lotto player will be celebrating after winning $500,000 with Lotto First Division in yesterday’s live draw. The player from Central Otago purchased the winning ticket through the MyLotto app.

The numbers drawn were 28, 35, 4, 7, 1 and 23. The bonus ball is 17 and the Powerball is 7.

A spokesperson from Lotto NZ said there had been “reasonably heavy” traffic for ticket buying, common when the jackpot exceeds $20 million

Saturday night’s draw left some punters outraged as Lotto’s website and mobile phone app were temporarily down ahead of the numbers being revealed.

Customers took to the MyLotto Facebook page to voice their frustration, saying they couldn’t buy a ticket online.

One customer said they were an hour away from the nearest store.

“Lotto - please tell me if your site is going to be fixed before 7.30pm tonight. Otherwise, I need to get in the car and start driving.”

Another said, “Oh no! I’ve been playing my favourites for years - and I can’t get on!!! If this is the night - I will be hugely disappointed. Come on Lotto - sort it OUT.”

A Lotto spokesperson said it experienced an issue with MyLotto and was sorry for the inconvenience.

This didn’t stop four lucky players from Auckland, Nelson, and Wellington from winning $250,000 with Lotto First Division.

The winning tickets were sold at Pak’nSave Richmond, near Nelson, and on MyLotto to two players from Auckland and one from Wellington.

Last Wednesday, one lucky Karaka player walked away with $1m after winning Lotto’s First Division. The winning ticket was sold at Karaka Convenience in Karaka.