Lotto tickets snapped up ahead of $30 million draw

Lotto tickets are in hot demand ahead of tonight's $30 million draw.

Would-be millionaires are flocking to Lotto stores around the country for tonight's $30 million draw.

The Powerball draw is the second largest it has ever been after the $27 million prize up for grabs on Wednesday was not struck.

While not able to provide specific figures on ticket sales today, Lotto spokeswoman Emilia Mazur said she was hearing that sales of Lotto tickets were going through the roof.

"There's a lot of people in store buying tickets and there's a real buzz around, that's for sure. We're expecting more than twice as many tickets as usual for tonight's draw."

Nelson's Richmond Night 'n Day is one of the "luckiest" stores in the country having sold 29 first-division winning tickets in the past.

Its owner David Smolenski said they were due to sell another big one.

"It's been steady all week and it's really started to get very busy towards the end of the week," he said.

"There's a lot more people who don't normally buy tickets who are coming in and wanting to get a ticket or asking how to get involved in the $30m jackpot."

He said sales at his store were up about 200-250 per cent.

"It's the busiest it's been for a while. The fact that we're one of the luckiest stores in the country also doesn't hurt - it works wonders for business."

Jai Patel, the owner of Auckland's Mid City Lotto & Newsagent, said many of the punters had never bought a ticket before and had no idea how to play Lotto, indicating the excitement the draw was generating.

"Since we're in the city, we usually get more people for the Wednesday draws, but this week we've been getting lots and lots of people in right up to Saturday."

The biggest wins in Lotto history:
• $36.8m Big Wednesday prize - Masterton - June 2009
•$28.7m Powerball - Papakura - October 2010
•$27m Big Wednesday prize - Tauranga September 2012
•$33m Powerball prize - West Auckland - September 2013