nzherald.co.nz takes a look at five of the biggest money winners.
Precision bowling wins $95,000
English cricket fan Chris Newell kept his cool in front of a crowd of more than 16,000 at Trent Bridge to win £50,000 ($NZ 95,000) last year.
The 50-year-old had known for six months that he would have the chance to win the money in a competition run by the sponsors, a cider making firm.
And having been set the task of hitting three stumps, then two and then one in successive deliveries in the mid-innings break of the third one-day international between England and New Zealand, Newell held his nerve by bowling a trio of accurate deliveries to claim the cash.
Former England captain Michael Vaughan joked on Twitter that, having seen his bowling, Newell should be fast-tracked into Australia's squad.
Rugby fan wins $498,000 with cross bar kick
Rugby fan Stuart Tinner won £250,000 (NZD$498,000) after winning a kicking competition staged at half-time in London rugby club Saracens' 24-23 victory over South Africa at Wembley.
But he had to endure moments of agony while he waited to confirm he was a winner because he punted the ball rather than drop-kicked it.
Sky Sports commentators revealed the 'unknown man' at the time would not be able to claim his windfall because of the technicality but just a few minutes later, Tinner had the cheque firmly in his grasp.
The 24-year-old Job Centre worker, who plays hooker for the Welwyn RFC fifth team and lived at home with his parents, struck the cross-bar with a punt from 30 metres - in his socks.
Tinner was the first of three supporters picked at random from the 46,281 crowd after applying to take part in the competition by text message.
Ice hockey fan becomes instant millionaire
Sawmill worker Darwin Head won $1 million during the first-period intermission of a Candian ice-hockey game between the Vancouver Canucks and the Colorado Avalanche.
Head had 24 seconds to shoot 20 pucks from the far blue line at an empty net. He needed to put 15 of them in the net to collect the $1 million. He did it when his last shot crossed the goal line just before time expired.
Head had spent three weeks practising two or three hours a night on an outdoor rink near his home and said he was convinced he hadn't won.
The 35-year-old Head was randomly chosen from 8.6 million total online entries for the contest, which was shown live on TSN.
Before he won the $1 million, Head and two friends, Lance Badger and Randy Bout, each won Chevy Malibu hybrid cars when they easily put 15 pucks in from centre ice.
Boston golfer wins $1 million
A Boston man sunk a $USD 1 million hole-in-one at a charity golf tournament in Albuquerque.
Jeff Barton paid $125 to enter Corley's Albuquerque Lincoln Volvo Golf Tournament and received a $1 million one-shot chance on the ninth hole.
Barton used a rented eight-iron on the 150-yard par-three. The ball gets lost in the sky of the now-viral YouTube footage above, but when the ball lands, the reaction of the gallery at Paa-ko Ridge Golf Club is a hoot.
Half court shot for $163,000
When 27-year old Thomas Berau was invited to take a half court shot to win $163,000 during a French basketball game, he had a better chance of winning than most.
He was an amateur basketball player who had been preparing for weeks and confidently netted his shot before getting swamped by both sets of players in the All-Star game.
Check out the swish here.
