Bonus ticket wins $1m
A Waihı¯ couple is $1 million richer thanks to a bonus ticket.
The couple, who wish to remain anonymous, have been playing their own numbers for years, and never believed a bonus ticket would nab them a Lotto First Division win.
They visited their town’s Lotto store to play their regular numbers for the draw on Saturday, May 16, and while there, checked their previous ticket, which had won a bonus ticket.
That night, the man sat down in the lounge to watch the live Lotto draw and wrote down the numbers as they were drawn.
He marked off his regular ticket before moving on to his bonus ticket.
He soon realised all the numbers matched on the bottom line and shouted to his partner to come through and check it.
‘‘He shouted me through and said: ‘Look’. So I said: ‘What at?’ and he pointed to the bottom line of the ticket ... I saw all of the numbers marked off and couldn’t quite believe it,’’ said the woman.
‘‘It’s so exciting, we’ve never won anything like this, we’re so happy.’’
The couple celebrated that evening with a glass of wine and tried their best to get a good night’s sleep before heading back to the store to claim the next morning.
‘‘I put the ticket in my wallet, and my wallet on the bedside cabinet, so I knew where it was all night,’’ said the man.
Needless to say, not much sleep was had as the couple chatted through the night about what this win would mean for them.
‘‘We’d like to pay off our mortgage and I’d really like to get a new car,’’ said the woman.
‘‘My partner had already been out looking at new toys even before the money was in our account.’’
The winning ticket was sold at Paper Plus Waihı¯ and Toyworld in Waihı¯ for the Lotto Draw on Saturday, May 16.