Lucky number 50? Powerball numbers on the side of Hastings Lotto store

Local resident Jan Ford hopes to buy her daughter a house if she wins Saturday's $50m Lotto jackpot draw. Photo / Warren Buckland

Jan Ford stepped into the luckiest Lotto store in New Zealand and stood in the queue with one goal in mind.

She hoped Thursday could be remembered as the day she helped her daughter buy a home.

Ford was among hundreds who ventured into Unichem Stortford Lodge Pharmacy in Hastings to get a ticket for Saturday's must-win $50 million Lotto Powerball jackpot.

The store has already produced 49 First Division winning tickets, with more than $39m worth of First Division and Powerball winnings since 2001.

All the omens are there. Could the 50th win be $50m? There's always a chance.

Ford, a regular Lotto player, said she always buys her tickets from the store on Heretaunga St West.

"They've had 49 First Division wins – why wouldn't you?" she said. "You think your chances might be improved by getting them here.

"I don't buy Lotto tickets every week, but I buy them about once a fortnight or when there is a big draw like this."

Ford added: "You have got to be in it to win it, but it'll never happen to me. But, if you don't have a ticket, you don't have a chance."

Ford, who once won $749, said she'd be happy to share the big prize with several people.

"As long as I can get my youngest daughter her first house, I don't mind how much it is."

Dozens queued up at Unichem Stortford Lodge Pharmacy store, Hastings, ahead of the Must Be Won draw. Photo / Warren Buckland

For Cameron McCullen and Hannah McDonald, it is all or nothing.

"We want $50 million and apparently this is a lucky spot, so we came he specifically," they said.

"We have entered once before – the draw before this one. We won $21."

Fellow Hawke's Bay resident Usha Rani also has plans of her own.

"I have a dream for my children," she said. "That is why I am here to buy the ticket."

According to Lotto, more than three quarters (81 per cent) of Powerball winners in 2019 bought a new house with their winnings, while 56 per cent said they'd keep working after their win.

All of 2019's Powerball winners helped out family and friends with their winnings, while half supported charities.

Saturday's $50m jackpot is the largest prize ever on offer and the first time Powerball has reached a Must Be Won draw since November 2016.

In the event that there are no First Division winners, the jackpot rolls down to the next division where there are winners, where the prize will be shared among the winning-ticket holders.

Lotto head of communications and corporate social responsibility Marie Winfield said 38 people won Second Division on Wednesday, with five of those winning Powerball.

"If the same happens on Saturday, the jackpot is likely to be shared by multiple winners," she said.

Among the 38 Lotto players who celebrated a midweek windfall after winning $17,898 each after Wednesday's draw were players who bought tickets from Napier City Pak'nSave and Unichem Stortford Lodge Pharmacy in Hastings.

Among the five lucky players who won Powerball Second Division, taking their total winnings to $28,152, included someone who purchased their tickets from Tamatea Pak'nSave in Napier.

Unichem Stortford Lodge Pharmacy general manager Carol Ormerod said customers end up snaking around the shop and out the door. Photo / Paul Taylor

Unichem Stortford Lodge Pharmacy general manager Carol Ormerod said they were preparing for a busy few days. Saturday could be manic.

"People from out of town often come in and tell us they had to come here because they were in Hawke's Bay and had heard about us.

"Customers end up snaking around the shop and out the door, depending on the weather."