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, taken by an Auckland family in August 2024. The largest prize pool ever put up in one draw is $55 million, in November 2025 — and it was shared three ways.

Those two figures sit at the heart of a distinction most “biggest win” lists blur. A record jackpot and a record individual payout are not the same thing, and the gap between them explains a great deal about how Powerball actually behaves.

The record holder: $44,666,670

In August 2024 an Auckland family collected the biggest prize ever paid on one Lotto NZ ticket. Their entry was bought on MyLotto through a standing subscription, for the Saturday 10 August draw.

The total was unusually large because of how the ticket was built. The family played ten lines carrying the same six Lotto numbers, pairing each line with a different Powerball number from one to ten.

When their six main numbers came up, the single line holding the matching Powerball landed the $44 million Powerball First Division prize — while all ten lines qualified for a share of Lotto First Division, adding a further $666,670.

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

It is worth being precise about what that approach does and doesn’t do. Covering all ten Powerball numbers guarantees you hold the right one, but it costs ten times as much and does nothing to improve the odds of matching the six main numbers — the genuinely difficult part. It buys a 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 size, 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 almost eight years.

The second was a single Auckland ticket bought on MyLotto in November 2024, only three months after the record was finally beaten. Both remain equal on the all-time list, and both sets of winners stayed anonymous.

Pōkeno, 2021: about $42.2 million

In October 2021 a 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 Woolworths).

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

Paraparaumu, 2023: $37.125 million

The Kāpiti Coast win is the one most often retold, thanks to how casually the ticket was bought.

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

Her husband found out first, matching the numbers on his phone after 10pm while hunting 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

Powerball First Division currently starts at $5 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 surge as the jackpot rises, the growth accelerates towards the top. Once the pool reaches its cap it can no longer jackpot to another draw, and a Must Be Won draw is called.

What trips people up is that the advertised figure can exceed the cap. Lotto NZ forecasts sales for that specific draw and sets the number accordingly — which is exactly how the November 2025 draw came to be advertised at $55 million rather than a round $50 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 a dozen millionaires in a night rather than one. There is more on the mechanics in our Powerball NZ guide.

November 2025’s Must Be Won draw, on Saturday 15 November, produced the largest prize pool in Lotto NZ history — and 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 of the tickets came from supermarkets — New World Kawerau and PAK’nSAVE Moorhouse in Christchurch — and the third was bought on MyLotto by an Auckland player. A further fifteen players each won $55,556 from Lotto First Division. So: a record pool, yet not one of the three shares comes close to the single-ticket record.

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, and smaller prizes on other lines. It was the 11th largest prize in Lotto NZ history and the biggest ever won in Ashburton.

The ticket cost $7.50. The family were regular players using a mix of similar numbers across five lines, and had no idea they had won until the following day. They 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, with 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 remain 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 does not provide that advice itself. Our guide on what happens when you win Lotto walks through the sequence in detail.

Prizes must be claimed within 12 months of the draw date, and the 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 like 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 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, overseen by independent scrutineers — see the Lotto NZ FAQ — draws use physical ball machines with Audit NZ scrutineers. 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

On 13 September 2026, Lotto NZ made its first Powerball matrix change in 19 years — the biggest shake-up to the game in a generation (for background on the game’s history, see Wikipedia — Lotto New Zealand (matrix, Strike, physical draws)). Tickets for the new format went on sale that day, with the first draw under it on 16 September.

The number of Powerballs in the machine rose from 10 to 14. The starting jackpot went from $4 million to $5 million and the maximum from $50 million to $60 million. A new Powerball Division 8 was added — a fixed $12 prize for matching two Lotto numbers, the Bonus Ball and the Powerball — and Lotto NZ expects total weekly Powerball winners to climb by around 30%, from roughly 47,000 to about 62,000. Full details are on the Lotto NZ — Powerball changes from 13 September 2026 page.

The trade-off falls on the top prize. The odds of winning Powerball Division 1 lengthened from about 1 in 38.4 million per line to about 1 in 53.7 million. Division 1 will be struck 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 did not change. For the full picture on probability, see our guide to the odds of winning Lotto in NZ.

Reading these stories honestly

Record lists are compelling because they are full of relatable detail — 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 the odds now in force you would need to buy roughly 54 million Powerball lines to expect a single Division 1 win. No number selection, store, purchase channel or ticket structure changes that.

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

Big prizes that go unclaimed

The flip side of the record list is the prizes nobody collects. 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 returns to the prize pool for future draws and promotions — Lotto NZ cannot keep it as profit. Our page on unclaimed lottery prizes has more.

Very large prizes are usually claimed within days, though a nervous wait sometimes follows. After 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). It went unclaimed for a couple of weeks while Lotto NZ appealed for the holder to check their ticket, before a North Shore family came forward in November 2024 to claim it. Some prizes lapse for good: the largest unclaimed prize in New Zealand history is a $3 million Lotto First Division ticket bought in Masterton in 2003 that was never collected — which is why Lotto NZ keeps urging players in a named area to dig out and check old tickets whenever a big prize 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 is nothing to lose or forget — online entries are checked automatically and any prize is credited to your wallet.

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 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 and confidential support is available 24/7 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.

Vanliga frågor (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 the family 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 its cap it cannot roll over again, so a Must Be Won draw is called. The advertised amount can exceed the cap, since Lotto NZ sets it 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. Since 13 September 2026 the cap is $60 million, up from $50 million.

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 for future draws.