Using the same Lotto numbers for years has finally paid off for an Otago family who are $5.3million richer after a Powerball jackpot win.
The family uses the same mixture of birthdays and random numbers to buy a $6 ticket twice a week, Lotto NZ said.
‘‘We’ve played the same ticket for years,’’ the mum who found out about the win on Wednesday last week said.
‘‘My husband was out and I just happened to check our ticket [before] going to bed.
‘‘The draw played and I saw it was a winner so I took a screenshot and closed the app.
‘‘I guess I didn’t really register what was happening. I kept staring at the screenshot and the large number at the top, not quite believing what I was seeing.
‘‘I tried to log back in and check again, but MyLotto had closed for the night.’’
The woman waited for her husband to get back and showed him the screenshot.
‘‘He didn’t believe me at all, he said ‘Nah, that can’t be real — I’m off for a shower’, and off he went!’’
The couple had to wait until MyLotto reopened the next morning to confirm the news.
‘‘As soon as MyLotto opened we logged in to check ... and then we checked again, and again, and again,’’ she said with a laugh.
‘‘It felt absolutely unreal. It’s a life-changing moment.’’
Their next step was to tell their children the good news, so they invited them round for dinner.
‘‘We sat them down and said, ‘We have some news to share with you’.
‘‘My plan was to replay the draw on my phone so they could see the ticket, but before I could, my husband blurted out ‘We’ve won $5.3million!’
‘‘One of the kids shouted ‘I knew it!’.’’
The family are planning to take some time to think about their future before making any decisions.
‘‘We’re going to put the majority of it in a term deposit for now while we think about what we’d like to do, but we will set aside a small amount for a little splurge.’’ — Allied Media
