NZ's newest Lotto millionaires: 'Oh cool, a Bonus ticket'

An Auckland woman had to re-check her Lotto ticket after a night's sleep to try and comprehend how much money her family had won.

She would then confirm that they had won a cool $14.25 million after scooping Powerball First Division on Saturday night.

The winner, who didn't want to be identified, said she and her husband were having dinner with friends when she decided to check her numbers on the Lotto NZ App.

"We had friends over for dinner and I decided to open up the Lotto NZ App and check my ticket while we chatted.

"My mind started racing when I saw the numbers all being circled on one line – I wanted to tell my husband, but he was deep in conversation, so I started tapping the table to try and get his attention.

"I had no idea what she was doing," laughed her husband. "Then she turned her phone to me and showed me the ticket and I just nodded and said, 'oh cool, a Bonus Ticket'."

"That's when I pointed at the number stamped on the top of the ticket, but he still didn't click – he thought it was $14,000.

"Even then, he played it cool as all our friends were around, so I decided to sleep on it and double-check again in the morning," said the winner.

Little did they know they'd won a cool $14.25 million after scooping Powerball First Division.

The winner, who wishes to remain anonymous, picked her regular Lotto ticket using the app on Saturday morning.

"I've been playing the same numbers for a few years now – they're a combination of family birthdays, milestones and special events. I pick up a ticket for most draws, but didn't actually buy this ticket until Saturday when I saw what the jackpot was … it was a bit of a whim really," said the winner.

She then thought nothing more of it until having dinner with friends.

After a sleepless night, the woman logged back into MyLotto on Sunday morning and checked her ticket again.

"I saw all the numbers circled on one line again and it started to feel real – though I've lost track of the number of times I've gone back and looked at the ticket since then," she laughed.

"When my husband woke up, I sat him down and told him he needed to have a look at our Lotto ticket again," said the winner.

"I was still stoked to have won $14,000 – so when she told me to double-check how many zeros there were, I could hardly believe it. There it was right in front of me – we'd won $14,250,000 … and a Bonus ticket too!" her husband said.

The couple were looking forward to enjoying - and sharing - their winnings.

"We'll pay off the mortgage and help set our kids up – that's the most important thing for us. We want to make sure the whole family is set up for the future.

"You always dream about winning Powerball, but for it to actually happen … it's blown us both away," the winner said.