Powerball Lotto win: Auckland woman gets $10.5 million Mother’s Day lunch surprise

One man managed to keep the news he and his wife were multimillion-dollar Lotto winners secret all morning until a special Mother’s Day lunch.

The Auckland couple were hoping to try their luck with the $10,000 Mother’s Day promotional draw - but they got more than they bargained for, pocketing $10.5 million from Powerball.

“My wife was very happy. She wondered how I managed to keep it so quiet, but I’m good at keeping a secret.”

The man checked his online MyLotto ticket the morning following Saturday night’s draw: “I couldn’t believe it,” he said, “I was speechless!

“I wanted to surprise the family at our special Mother’s Day lunch, so I just went about my morning like normal.”

He waited until after lunch until his family was sitting around the table to announce the win.

“At first they couldn’t believe it,” he said.

“They thought it was a joke. But after I showed them my ticket and replayed the draw on my phone, and they could see it happen, they realised it was real.”

It was a good pick-me-up for the man too, who was forlorn after watching the Blues and Crusaders on Saturday evening.

“I didn’t pay attention to the Lotto results that evening as I was too busy watching the rugby,” he said.

“The following morning, I was checking my emails as usual and noticed a couple from Lotto.

“One said I’d won a major prize, which seemed odd. I thought maybe I’d won the Mother’s Day promo prize,” he said.

“I quickly logged onto MyLotto to check my ticket and couldn’t believe it when I saw all my numbers line up! I was speechless – I never expected to win Powerball.”

He said they were planning to help their family and charities with their winnings.

“It’s important for us to give back to the community,” he said.