Lotto hits massive $34m jackpot

It’s been steady all week and it’s really started to get very busy. David Smolenski, store owner

The second largest prize in Lotto history will be up for grabs this Wednesday. The $30 million jackpot wasn’t won last night and the fortune has increased to $34m.

“If a single player is lucky enough to win big on Wednesday, they’ll be taking home the second largest prize ever won in New Zealand — it’s lifechanging,” said Lotto spokeswoman Emilia Mazur.

It’s expected over a million tickets were sold last week. Final figures will not be available until tomorrow but about twice as many tickets were sold on Wednesday compared to a standard Lotto draw.

“It’s definitely well over base week. There’s a lot of excitement.”

Nelson’s Richmond Night ’ n Day is one of the “luckiest” stores in the country, having sold 29 first-divisionwinning tickets in the past.

Owner David Smolenski said they were due to sell another big one.

“It has been steady all week and it’s really started to get very busy towards the end of the week. There are a lot more people who don’t normally buy tickets who are coming in and wanting to get a ticket or asking how to get involved in the $30m jackpot.”

He said sales were up about 200-250 per cent. “It’s the busiest it has been for a while. The fact that we’re one of the luckiest stores in the country also doesn’t hurt — it works wonders for business.”

Jai Patel, the owner of Auckland’s Mid City Lotto & Newsagent, said many of the punters had never bought a ticket before and had no idea how to play Lotto, indicating the excitement the draw was generating.

“Since we’re in the city, we usually get more people for the Wednesday draws, but this week we’ve been getting lots and lots of people in right up to Saturday.”