A Central Hawke's Bay woman who chooses the same Lotto numbers each week has won $333,333.
And it took some serious planning for her to do so.
The Waipukurau woman won $333,333 with Lotto First Division with a Multidraw ticket.
The woman, who wishes to remain anonymous, plays the same lucky numbers each Saturday.
"I play the same numbers every Saturday. Each number is special and has some significance – they're birthdates, birthday months… that kind of thing," the winner said.
As the winner had a mid-winter holiday planned, she ensured she had a ticket sorted for while she was away, just in case her numbers came up.
"I had a wee holiday planned, so decided to pick up a Multidraw ticket so I wouldn't miss a Saturday draw – you know, just in case my numbers came up," the woman laughed.
It wasn't until the woman checked her lucky ticket at her local Lotto store that she realised just how lucky that decision had been.
"I never bother checking my tickets until I visit a Lotto store – it's all part of the fun," said the woman.
"As the woman at the counter checked my ticket, she joked that I might be a big winner. I told her "don't be silly - I never win anything like that' – then the terminal made a winning sound, so I thought I'd won a couple of bucks," the woman said.
"Then the Lotto lady told me to come with her into the back room – I thought she was joking at first, I wasn't sure what was going on.
"She sat me down and then told me the good news and gave me a big hug – she probably didn't want me to pass out," laughed the woman.
"I know I've won, but it's just so crazy to say "I'm a Lotto winner"…it still doesn't feel real. All I know is that I feel very, very lucky," the winner said.
The winning ticket was sold at Paper Plus Waipukurau for the Lotto draw on Saturday 25 August. The winning ticket was one of three around the country that shared Saturday's $1 million Lotto jackpot.
Donna Barr, who has worked at Paper Plus Waipukurau for five years, said it was the biggest winning ticket she had ever sold.
"$10,000 is the biggest I've sold before, so it was a buzz."
"It couldn't have gone to a nicer person, really.
"I said to her, oh have you bought the winning ticket?', and she goes 'don't be stupid Donna'. But then we popped it into the machine and it was $333,000.
"So I said 'best you come with me and sit down' and then when we got to the office I said 'give us a hug' – I want some of that luck!"
When asked what it felt like to sell a winning ticket for that much money, Barr grinned:
"It was almost as good as winning it [Lotto] – but not quite!"
'It’s been a tough year and now we feel like we can breathe.'