The winner of Saturday's $24 million Lotto Powerball jackpot is a "family man" who "shed lots of tears" after the lucky break.
The man is a regular player who bought a Triple Dip ticket while on a trip to Wellington. He wants to remain anonymous.
"I bought the ticket on Wednesday and didn't get around to checking it until Monday," he said.
He didn't watch the draw or check the numbers – but, he had a "sneaky suspicion" his yellow ticket was the winner.
"I'd heard from family that the winner had bought the ticket from the same shop I had, so I couldn't wait to check it," he said.
"I hurriedly went to the store to check, and when the store person confirmed I was the winner, I yelled, 'Oh my gosh!'
"I was jumping up and down. I didn't know what to do with my hands and didn't trust myself not to start screaming and shouting."
His family couldn't believe it. They're "so excited" and trying to stay grounded.
"I plan to take it one step at a time," the winner said. "I'm definitely not going to rush out and buy 10 new cars or anything.
"My family and I will sit down and have a chat about it next week.
"We hope to make some wise decisions about the things we need and the things we want – and the needs will come first."
The winning ticket was sold at Woolworths Wanuiomata.
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