No winners for $26.7 million lottery

No one has struck tonight's $26.7 million Big Wednesday windfall - the largest ever prize for the midweek lottery - so the jackpot rises next week to the maximum $30m cash and prizes that must be won.

NZ Lotteries said it sold a record 2.9 million Big Wednesday tickets this week, compared with the weekly average of 500,000.

The previous record for New Zealand lottery ticket sales was 2.3m for last year's $30m Powerball draw.

The Problem Gambling Foundation has called for the $30m limit on jackpots to be cut to $12.5m, saying such large prizes lure people into gambling.

Tonight's jackpot featured $25m cash plus $1.7m in prizes.

NZ Lotteries chief executive Todd McLeay said if no one won first division in next week's Big Wednesday draw the first division prize pool would be added to that of the next highest prize division where there were winners.

The Big Wednesday luxury prize line-up could be taken as a cash prize, which would enable the prize to be split equally if there was more than one big winner.

"This 'Must Be Won' draw has been triggered due to Big Wednesday's jackpotting cash and prizes reaching the threshold of $30 million, as set out in NZ Lotteries' game rules," he said.

Big Wednesday's first division had not been struck for 21 weeks, making it the longest jackpot run in NZ Lotteries' history, Mr McLeay said.

The largest Big Wednesday first division prize to date was a $12.8m prize won by a Thames player in February 2006 and the largest NZ Lotteries prize won to date as a $19m Powerball prize won by a New Plymouth player in April 2008.

Next Wednesday's prizes will comprise $28m cash, two luxury cars ,a $250,000 credit card, a $250,000 travel package, a boat and $750,000 bach.

The odds of winning from a six-line lucky dip ticket are one in 2,715,020.

- NZPA