Lotto NZ has tonight apologised as tens of thousands of Kiwis are locked out from checking their tickets - and many couldn't buy their chance at the $42 million jackpot.
"This evening, some players may have experienced issues when trying to top up or buy their tickets and we're sorry for any inconvenience caused," the agency said on Facebook, shortly after a single player - with a ticket bought in Pokeno, south of Auckland, claimed the second-largest Powerball prize ever in New Zealand.
At just before 9pm, punters scrambling to check their tickets on MyLotto were told they would need to wait for more than an hour - with as many as 60,000 Kiwis in the queue.
Earlier a message on the site said: "We're currently experiencing issues for players trying to top up, we're working as quickly as we can to try and fix this. Sorry for the inconvenience."