Biggest Lotto Win NZ: The Record Jackpots and Who Won Them

The largest amount ever won on a single Lotto NZ ticket is $44,666,670, claimed by an Auckland family in August 2024. The largest prize pool ever offered in one draw is $55 million, in November 2025 — and it was split three ways.

Those two figures capture the distinction most lists get wrong.

A record jackpot and a record individual payout are not the same thing, and the gap between them explains a lot about how Powerball actually works.

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The record holder: $44,666,670

In August 2024, an Auckland family won the largest prize ever taken on one ticket in Lotto NZ history. Their entry was bought on MyLotto through a standing subscription, for the draw on Saturday 10 August.

The total was unusually high because of how they built the ticket. They played ten lines of the same six Lotto numbers, each paired with a different Powerball number from one to ten.

That meant when their main numbers came up, one line carried the correct Powerball for the $44 million Powerball First Division prize — and all ten lines qualified for a share of Lotto First Division, adding another $666,670.

The family had played since Lotto launched in 1987 and chose to stay anonymous. They said the money meant their children would be able to own homes.

It is worth being clear about what this does and doesn’t achieve.

Covering all ten Powerball numbers guarantees you hold the right one — but it costs ten times as much, and it does nothing to improve the odds of matching the six main numbers, which is the genuinely hard part. It converts a bigger stake into a slightly different prize profile, not better odds.

The two tickets tied at $44,066,667

Just below the record sit two prizes of exactly the same amount, won eight years apart on opposite channels.

The first went to a young Hibiscus Coast couple in November 2016, on a ticket bought at Dairy Flat Food Mart north of Auckland. It held the outright record for nearly eight years.

The second went to a single Auckland ticket bought on MyLotto in November 2024, just three months after the record was finally broken. Both remain equal on the all-time list.

Pōkeno, 2021: about $42.2 million

In October 2021, a local family in the small Waikato town of Pōkeno won roughly $42.2 million on a ticket bought at what was then Countdown Pōkeno (since rebranded as Woolworths).

They only checked their ticket after reading a news article that named the store where the winning ticket had been sold. Demand to check tickets that night was heavy enough to slow the Lotto website and app for hours.

Paraparaumu, 2023: $37.125 million

The Kāpiti Coast prize is the one most often retold, because of how casually the ticket was bought.

A woman stopped at New World Kāpiti on the way home from work because she wanted a chocolate bar, noticed the jackpot on the way past, and added a Power Dip. The couple were occasional players who tended to buy only when the jackpot climbed past $30 million.

Her husband found out first, matching the numbers on his phone after 10 pm while looking for World Cup footage. The prize was $37 million from Powerball First Division plus $125,000 from Lotto First Division.

How the jackpot climbs — and what “Must Be Won” really means

The Powerball First Division prize starts at $4 million. If nobody matches all six Lotto numbers plus the Powerball, the pool rolls over to the next draw.

Because the pool grows as a set percentage of ticket sales, and sales spike as the jackpot rises, the growth accelerates near the top.

Once the pool reaches $50 million, it can no longer jackpot to another draw, and a Must Be Won draw is called.

What trips people up is that the advertised amount can exceed $50 million. Lotto NZ forecasts sales for that specific draw and sets the figure accordingly — which is exactly how November 2025’s draw came to be advertised at $55 million.

If no ticket takes Powerball First Division in a Must Be Won draw, the whole pool rolls down and is shared equally among winners of the next Powerball division that has any. That is why these draws can create ten millionaires in a night instead of one.

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November 2025’s Must Be Won draw was the largest prize pool in Lotto NZ history. It was struck at First Division — by three separate tickets.

Each winner took $18,388,889, made up of $18,333,333 from Powerball First Division and $55,556 from Lotto First Division. Two tickets came from supermarkets, at New World Kawerau and PAK’nSAVE Moorhouse in Christchurch. The third was bought on MyLotto by an Auckland player.

Fifteen other players took $55,556 each from Lotto First Division. So: a record pool, and not one of the three shares comes close to the single-ticket record. There is more on the mechanics in our Powerball NZ guide.

The most recent big one: Ashburton, June 2026

The largest win of 2026 so far went to an Ashburton family, on a ticket bought at Four Square Netherby for the draw on Wednesday 3 June.

They took $28.6 million — $28 million from Powerball First Division, plus three separate $200,000 shares of Lotto First Division across different lines. It was the 11th largest prize in Lotto NZ history, and the biggest ever won in Ashburton.

The ticket cost $7.50. They were regular players using a mix of similar numbers across five lines, and had no idea they had won until the following day. The family said the money meant they could finally buy their first home.

What actually happens to a major winner

Much of what circulates about Lotto NZ’s winner process is embellished. The verifiable version is more ordinary.

When a large win is validated at a retail counter, the retailer contacts Lotto NZ while you are still in the store and puts you through to the winners’ team. Retailers are trained to be discreet, and paperwork is completed away from the counter. Lotto NZ’s customer support line is 0800 695 6886, and there is a dedicated winners’ team line on 0800 100 770.

Lotto NZ keeps all winning tickets, so it is worth photographing or copying yours before handing it over.

Winners can choose to stay anonymous, and most large New Zealand winners do — every winner named on this page opted for it. Lotto NZ can point winners toward independent financial and legal advisers, but it does not provide that advice itself. Our guide on what happens when you win Lotto covers the sequence in detail.

Prizes must be claimed within 12 months of the draw date, and the claim process differs by channel — see how to claim Lotto winnings in NZ.

Tax on a jackpot in New Zealand

Prizes won through official Lotto NZ games are not treated as income, so the prize itself is not taxed. The amount you win is the amount that reaches your bank account.

Once the money is sitting in an account, the normal rules resume. Interest earned is subject to resident withholding tax, and anything you buy or invest in is treated the same as any other asset. This is general information rather than tax advice, and anyone in that position should speak to an accountant.

Online versus in store: what the record list shows

Wins on the all-time single-ticket list are spread across both channels. The outright record and one of the two tied-second prizes came from MyLotto, while the other tied-second (2016), Pōkeno and Paraparaumu were all bought in store.

That rough balance is what you would expect, given Lotto NZ sales are now split close to evenly between the two channels.

The purchase channel has no effect on the outcome. Every ticket, wherever it is bought, enters the same central system and the same physical ball draw. Our article on whether anyone has won Lotto online in NZ goes through the confirmed digital wins, and the Lotto online page covers how MyLotto works.

Bigger records are coming — and will be harder to set

From 13 September 2026, Lotto NZ is making its first Powerball matrix change in 19 years.

The number of Powerballs in the machine rises from 10 to 14. The starting jackpot goes from $4 million to $5 million, and the maximum from $50 million to $60 million. A new Powerball Division 8 is added, and Lotto NZ expects total weekly Powerball winners to rise by around 30%, from roughly 47,000 to 62,000.

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The trade-off falls on the top prize. Odds for Powerball Division 1 move from about 1 in 38.4 million to about 1 in 53.7 million. Division 1 will be won less often, jackpots will roll further, and the records on this page will eventually be broken by larger numbers reached less frequently. The price to play is not changing.

Reading these stories honestly

Record lists are compelling because they are full of relatable details — a chocolate bar, a $7.50 ticket, a forgotten password. That is exactly what makes them misleading if you read them as evidence of anything.

Every winner on this page is a single data point drawn from hundreds of millions of losing tickets.

At current odds you would need to buy roughly 38 million Powerball lines to expect one Division 1 win, and from September that figure rises above 50 million. No number selection, store, purchase channel or ticket structure changes that. If you want the maths in full, see our guide to the odds of winning Lotto in NZ.

Lotto NZ’s own messaging around large jackpots is that big prizes still carry small odds, and that one ticket is enough to be in the draw. Jackpot coverage tends to prompt people who don’t normally play to spend more than they intended — worth knowing about yourself before the next $50 million headline.

Disclaimer: This article is provided for general information only. It does not encourage anyone to gamble, buy lottery tickets, or spend money on any product, and it is not financial, legal or professional advice. Lottery games are games of chance with a negative expected return, and no strategy, ticket structure, store or purchase channel improves your odds of winning. Prize records, odds, jackpot caps and rules change — always confirm the current details with Lotto New Zealand at mylotto.co.nz before acting on anything here.

You must be 18 or over to buy lottery products in New Zealand. If gambling is causing harm to you or someone you know, free 24/7 support is available from the Gambling Helpline on 0800 654 655 or by texting 8006, from Safer Gambling Aotearoa, and from PGF Services on 0800 664 262. Gambling in New Zealand is regulated by the Department of Internal Affairs.

Big prizes that go unclaimed

The flip side of the record list is the prizes nobody has collected. Under the Gambling Act 2003, a New Zealand Lotto winner has 12 months from the draw date to claim. If a prize is still unclaimed after that, the money is returned to the prize pool for future draws and promotions — Lotto NZ cannot keep it as profit.

Very large prizes usually get claimed within days, but not always. One notable example came from the Powerball draw of 23 October 2024: a single ticket sold at Albany Central Superette in Auckland matched the numbers for a $30.2 million prize ($30 million from Powerball First Division plus $200,000 from Lotto First Division), and it remained unclaimed for many months while Lotto NZ appealed for the holder to check their ticket. Smaller prizes lapse more often — a $3 million Lotto First Division prize bought in Masterton in 2003 was never claimed — which is why Lotto NZ keeps urging players in a named area to dig out and check their tickets whenever a big one goes uncollected.

The practical lesson is simple. Sign the back of a paper ticket, check it promptly through the MyLotto app or website, and keep it somewhere safe until any prize is paid. Play online and there’s nothing to lose or forget: online entries are checked automatically and any prize is credited to your wallet, as covered on our Lotto online page.

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FAQ

What is the biggest Lotto win in New Zealand history?

$44,666,670, won by an Auckland family on a MyLotto subscription ticket for the draw on 10 August 2024. It was made up of $44 million from Powerball First Division and $666,670 from ten shares of Lotto First Division, because they played ten lines of the same numbers with a different Powerball on each.

What is the largest Lotto jackpot ever offered in one draw?

$55 million, in the Must Be Won draw of 15 November 2025. It was struck by three separate tickets, so each winner received $18,388,889 rather than the full pool.

What happens when Powerball hits the maximum jackpot?

Once the Powerball First Division pool reaches $50 million it cannot roll over again, so a Must Be Won draw is called. The advertised amount can exceed that figure, since Lotto NZ sets it based on forecast sales. If nobody wins Division 1 in that draw, the whole pool rolls down and is shared among winners of the next Powerball division that has any. The cap rises to $60 million from 13 September 2026.

Where was the $44.06 million winning ticket sold?

There are two prizes at that exact amount. The 2016 ticket was sold at Dairy Flat Food Mart north of Auckland to a Hibiscus Coast couple, and a second ticket won the same figure on MyLotto in November 2024 for an Auckland player.

Can a New Zealand Lotto winner stay anonymous?

Yes. Lotto NZ does not release a winner’s identity without their consent, and retailers are trained to handle large claims discreetly. Every winner named in this article chose to remain anonymous.

Do New Zealand Lotto winners pay tax on their prize?

No. Prizes from official Lotto NZ games are not treated as income, so the amount won is the amount paid out. Interest earned on that money afterwards is subject to resident withholding tax in the normal way. This is general information, not tax advice.

How long do winners have to claim a major prize?

Twelve months from the draw date shown on the ticket. Unclaimed prizes after that point return to the prize pool.