$7m Lotto win ‘hard to believe’

A Te Kuiti man who just pocketed $7.3 million in the town’s biggest Lotto win is taking the win in his stride.

After telling his family, they toasted the win with the bottle of wine he’d just bought on special from the local supermarket.

The winner, who wishes to stay anonymous, is a regular Lotto player who almost can’t believe his luck.

“I knew that someone in Te Kuiti had won the big prize because everyone’s been talking about it,” he said.

“But I honestly never thought it would be me. I remember thinking, ‘I wonder who that lucky person is’.”

His winning ticket, bought from Te Kuiti Paper Plus, had been scrunched in the glovebox of his car when he decided to check it at his local supermarket this week when picking up some groceries.

“At first I put it under the selfchecker and it said ‘major prize winner’, so I gave it to the Lotto lady and the computer locked up — that’s when I first realised that I’d won.

“At that moment, my mind just went blank. I didn’t know what to think,” he said. “It’s still hard to believe it’s real.” After filling in the paperwork with the “Lotto lady”, the winner made sure the coast was clear before heading home to tell his family the good news.

“My family just took it in their stride when I told them the good news.

“We opened a bottle of wine that I’d grabbed at the supermarket — it was on special,” the winner said.

Even with all the zeros now in his bank account, the winner plans to keep working and is facing the enviable task of deciding what to do with his winnings.

“I’m probably just a typical Lotto winner and I’m thinking about a new car, a house and then a holiday,” he said.

“I may have already gone for a test drive in my dream car.”

The winning ticket was sold for the Lotto draw on Saturday, February 17.

This is the largest prize ever won in Te Kuiti.