After last Saturday’s $38 million first division prize went unclaimed, tonight’s Big Wednesday has jackpotted to $44 million.
Dunedin is Lotto’s luckiest city this year with $28,658,700 won in first division prizes.
The next closest is Ashburton with $22,319,611.
A retired Dunedin couple, who won $13.3 million on Powerball in August, said the win had changed their lives.
‘‘Life’s definitely a lot easier now. Winning has taken the stress out of life.
‘‘We’re still the same people — just a lot more relaxed.
‘‘It’s a great feeling knowing that you’re set up for the rest of your life, and that your family is too.’’
The couple, who wished to remain anonymous, said it was ‘‘a real whirlwind’’ at the time, but they had settled into their new ‘‘normal’’ now.
‘‘We’ve splashed out on new cars and a house. When we won, I said to my wife ‘you pick the house, but I pick the car’.
The biggest thing they had bought was a brand new home.
‘‘We always said how amazing it would be to move into a house that no-one else had ever lived in.
‘‘So when we won, it was at the top of our wish list. We actually bought all new furniture to fill the house, too. It was a lot of fun.’’
The couple offered some advice for other big winners.
‘‘Don’t go too wild when you first find out that you’ve won.
‘‘Think things through. You have the rest of your life to enjoy it.’’
The big question is, do big Lotto winners continue to buy Lotto tickets?
‘‘Of course. I already have one You never know, right?
‘‘I’ve been buying Lotto tickets from the same store for years, and wanted to keep supporting them after our big win.’’
That store, Night ’n Day South Dunedin, was swarming with people queuing to buy Lotto tickets yesterday at one of the city’s luckiest outlets.
Owner Murray Devereux said his staff were flat out.
‘‘There’s a bit of Lotto fever around at the moment with all this money up for grabs.’’
He said many people picked the same numbers each week, and there were others who would only buy their tickets from what they called ‘‘the lucky terminal’’.
‘‘It’s the one next to the ice-creams. That one’s done two first division winners, plus a first division Powerball. That’s pretty lucky.’’
