Second largest Powerball jackpot: Luckiest stores reveal customers superstitions ahead of $35m draw

Kissing tickets, rubbing old trophies and waiting for specific machines or servers, these are the superstitions of New Zealand's luckiest Lotto store customers.

Powerball's jackpot increased a further $5 million to an eye-watering $35m for Saturday's draw after it failed to be drawn yesterday.

And if someone was lucky enough to bag the impressive haul, it would be the second-largest Powerball prize in Lotto NZ history.

At the country's second-luckiest store ever, Richmond Night N Day owner David Smolenski said customers must have a sixth-sense.

"Some customers wait for a specific machine or person to serve them, considering them luckier than the rest of us," he said.

"Others only want to buy their tickets on a certain day at a certain time because it's been lucky for them in the past.

New Zealand's luckiest Lotto stores reveal some of their customers strangest habits. Photo /Michael Bradley

"Then there's the ones who want us to kiss their tickets for good luck – I couldn't tell you how many times I've been asked to kiss people's tickets."

Meanwhile, at Unichem Stortford Lodge Pharmacy, the luckiest Lotto store in New Zealand history, hoped it would crack 50 First Division wins this weekend.

Having won 49 times since Lotto began in 1987, the Hastings store sold six times as many Lotto tickets as any other store in the region in a normal week alone.

The store had been abuzz with customers ahead of the mammoth Powerball draw, store manager Carole Ormerod said.

"We have three machines going just to keep the queues down."

Elsewhere, with an impressive haul of 27 First Division wins under its belt, Berrymans was the luckiest store in the Auckland region.

Most customers bought tickets without a fuss but others were a little different in their approach, store owner Sue Gibson said.

"We have a row of trophies on the counter for selling First Division tickets and some of our customers like to rub their ticket along the trophies for luck," Gibson said.

She reiterated comments from Smolenski, with some of Berrymans customers also waiting for a specific machine to print their ticket.

New Zealand's biggest Lotto win was $44m, won by a young Hibiscus Coast couple in November 2016.

The next-highest was $33m won by a self-proclaimed "westie" in September 2013, and $33m won by a 10-person syndicate in Taupō in September 2017.

Lotto NZ's luckiest stores of all time

1: Unichem Stortford Lodge Pharmacy in Hastings, 49 wins.

2: Richmond Night N Day in Nelson, 35 wins.

3: Pak N Save Riccarton in Christchurch, 33 wins.

4: Coastlands Lotto in Paraparaumu, 32 wins.

5: Hornby Mall Lotto in Christchurch, 31 wins.

6th equal: Mall Books And Lotto in Wellington, Greerton Lotto in Tauranga, and Berrymans in Auckland, 27 wins each.

7th equal: Pak n Save Dunedin in Dunedin, Melody's New World in Palmerston North, Fresh Choice Barrington in Christchurch, 26 wins each.