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Lotto fever is set to grip New Zealand for another week, with Powerball jackpotting to a new record of $24 million.
The $20m on offer this week - itself a record - was not won despite the sale of two million tickets.
Hopeful queues formed outside the country's
luckiest Lotto shop, Radius Pharmacy in Hastings, which has sold 34 winning First Division tickets.
"It has been so busy I haven't had time to turn around," Peter Dunkerley said yesterday afternoon. "But I love to sell dreams - 20-odd million is very, very attractive."
Dunkerley said tour buses had been stopping at the store so would-be millionaires could try their luck - despite the odds of winning being about 38.4 million to one.
Helen and Geoff Henderson, who won $18 million almost three years ago, bought a ticket for last night's record draw, although Helen admitted the odds against them winning again were "astronomical".
She said her initial reaction to winning such a huge sum of money was disbelief. "You just stand there with your mouth open. You don't know what to do next."
The Hendersons quit work and moved from Blockhouse Bay to upmarket Remuera.
Geoff bought a Mercedes sports car and Helen bought a pair of Prada shoes and matching handbag. They also donated money to Auckland's Starship children's hospital and other charities.
Helen's advice to any winner of next week's big prize was "tell nobody, buy yourself something silly you have always wanted and go away for a while".
She said the win had changed their lives for the better, but it had also been stressful.
"You've got to learn to cope with all this money and it's a huge responsibility. You could get into an awful lot of trouble."
Some financial experts warn of the pitfalls of attaining instant wealth.
"An amount like that usually terrifies people," said financial planner Liz Koh.
"People don't want to lose it and it paralyses them with fear. It's a life-changing experience. It can end up doing a lot of psychological damage.
"People get conflicting advice from friends and family, so it's a matter of being clear what their goals are. That's a soul-searching process."
Fellow financial planner Lisa Dudson agreed, saying lottery winners sometimes ended up worse off.
"I know of one couple who bought a mansion and five cars and ended up separating. They were completely outside their comfort zone. You can sometimes end up surrounded by friends you didn't know you had."
Both advised winners to use a little of their windfall on "fun" things and put the rest in a safe account for six to 12 months before deciding what to do.
Accountant Ann Loudon said any winner of next week's prize should keep the news quiet and "go to work on Monday as if nothing has changed".
They should then pay off any personal debt straight away and put the rest of the money into several on-call accounts.
"Update your will, start educating yourself financially, think about what is really important to you and take professional advice from qualified advisers.
"Set up the correct structures to protect your wealth - probably a combination of trusts and companies and invest 80-90 per cent of the funds into diversified, secure, long-term investments that are inflation-proof and low risk."
Loudon also said winners should spend 10-20 per cent on "important stuff" such as education, health, a nice home, a nice car, holidays and favourite charities.
The Powerball jackpot can go to $30 million before NZ Lotteries calls a "must be won" week.
The largest combined Lotto Powerball prize won to date was more than $19 million, sold at Pak 'N Save New Plymouth, won on April 5 this year.
Five lucky players won $386,848 with Lotto First Division last night. Three winning tickets were sold in Auckland: at Milford and Glenfield on the North Shore and Hilltop Superette in Parnell. The others were sold in Wellington and Martinborough.
