The secret to winning this weekend's $40m Lotto draw

Want to know how to win this weekend's $40 million Lotto draw?

A Florida man, who has won several grand prizes in Lotto, says the secret is in choosing your own numbers.

And, if you are the lucky winner the first bit of advice is to find a good local lawyer - and turn off your social media.

The largest jackpot ever on offer in New Zealand, of $40 million, must be won tomorrow.

Richard Lustig, who has written a book called Learn How to Increase your Chances of Winning the Lottery, told Newstalk ZB this morning he's the only person in the world to have won seven grand prizes totalling millions of dollars.

He started playing in Florida more than 20 years ago but says he didn't have a plan or method and was losing most of the time.

Thinking there must have been something he could do to increase his chances Lustig made a list of things he could try - and the things that worked.

Soon he began winning small prizes, then grand prizes.

His advice to everyone rushing out for this weekend's grand prize is simple: Don't buy quick picks, where a computer picked numbers for you.

"I play my own numbers, I play them regularly and I never miss a draw and again that's what increases your chances," he said.

Lustig said he was living in an old house with a leaky roof when he won his first draw and his son had just been born.

Listen: Richard Lustig speaks to Newstalk ZB

He won his first grand prize and got the roof fixed and paid off the hospital bill.

He always told people who won grand prizes to pay of their debt and put money away for their retirement before they went out and bought a talking car.

United States "Lottery Lawyer", Jason Kurland, said the biggest winner he'd ever advised won $330m.

He said those who won that sort of money experienced shock at first then fear that their lives had completely changed.

"There are a lot of sleepless nights between the day they realise they won and the day they've claimed and collected the money."

The first thing a winner should do is get advice from professionals, he said.

Kurland said New Zealanders looking for someone to advise them on what to do with $40m should find a local lawyer and financial planner they felt comfortable with. They should look for someone with experience who understood their goals.

"Now that you're going to be one of the richest people in New Zealand you have to start acting like it and you know it's going to a few dollars to hire the correct professionals but it's definitely worth it in the long run."

He added that winners should avoid social media as they didn't want people know where they lived or where they were taking holidays.