Man buys $20m Lotto ticket while waiting for wife

Assistant Chief of Staff·APNZ·

8 Sep, 2014 01:25 AM3 mins to read

Photo / File

A South Auckland man has pocketed a $20 million Lotto cashpot while his wife finished the grocery shopping.

The Pukekohe man, who wanted to remain anonymous, has claimed last week's Big Wednesday jackpot prize.

He bought the winning ticket while he waited for his wife to finish the grocery shopping, he said -- and then also discovered the win when his wife was doing the shopping a few days later.

"I was waiting for my wife, so I decided to check my Big Wednesday tickets. I put one under the ticket scanner and it said 'First Division winner', so I checked the next ticket and it said 'Second Division winner'," the man said.

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"I actually didn't know what to think, but I waited until the other customers had gone and I said to the lady behind the counter, 'can you check this please? I think I've won'.

"She put the ticket in the machine and said to me 'do you know how much you've won?' and I said 'no idea'.

"She said, 'you've just won $20 million'.

"The woman behind the Lotto counter was almost more excited than I was."

He decided not to tell anyone, but wasn't able to keep it from his wife for long, he said.

"My wife finished her shopping and saw me behind the Lotto counter. Her first thought was 'what is he complaining about?'," he laughed.

"When she worked out what was going on, she was beside herself. I had to take her home for a stiff glass of wine."

The lucky winner plans to buy a new house, a new car and an international holiday with his newfound millions. But he said he will also try to be sensible.

"It's such a large amount of money and it needs to be managed carefully. But the wife's car is pretty old, so we'll start by upgrading that."

The winning ticket was bought from Countdown Pukekohe for the Big Wednesday draw on September 3. The total prize is made up of $20,048,756 from First Division and $197,319 with Second Division.

It is the 10th largest lottery prize ever won by an individual in the history of Lotto New Zealand.