Lotto Powerball rolled over again this week – bringing tonight's jackpot to a staggering $40m.
If a ticket holder wins that jackpot individually, it would rank third in the biggest Lotto NZ wins of all time.
The biggest individual Lotto win in New Zealand was $44.06m and went to a winner from Auckland in 2016.
From security checks to split-second timing — Seven Sharp's Hilary Barry reveals how Lotto really works. (Source: Seven Sharp)
In 2021, a Waikato player won $42.02m. The next three largest wins were $37.12m in Wellington in 2023, a $33.05m win in Christchurch the same year, and a $33.01m win in Auckland in 2013.
The biggest overall jackpot was $55m in 2025, but three players each claimed a share of it – which worked out to almost $18.4 million each.
If a player does hit the jackpot this weekend, full information may not be available until the following day. That's because earlier this year, Lotto NZ made a change to draw announcements – and they now withhold winning ticket locations until the next morning.
Should you pick your numbers or visit a ‘lucky store’?
So is a "strategy" the way to go to increase your chances of landing the big money?
Last year, 1News spoke to Lotto's head of corporate communications Will Hine about different approaches to Powerball. Hine said there are various reasons people pick their numbers, "and people do sometimes think that certain numbers may carry more luck than others".
However, he added: "All numbers have the same number of chances of coming out of the machine."
According to Lotto, a typical week in 2025 had 39% of Lotto players select their numbers, as opposed to 61% who chose a random Lotto family 'dip'.
Other superstitions, such as tracking down past winning stores, were also debunked by Hine, who said: "These are games of chance."
Although no individual store is luckier than any other, some have beaten the odds and struck lightning more than once.
And The Bookshop and Lotto in Huntly once sold four Lotto first-division winning tickets in the same draw.
How many people have won big so far this year?
According to Lotto NZ’s online record of the yearly winners, so far in 2026 11 people have hit the Powerball jackpot.
Meanwhile, 27 people have become Lotto millionaires, and 184 prizes of more than $100,000 have been won.
Lotto’s advice to winners
For anyone lucky enough to hit the jackpot tonight, Lotto has previously provided advice on how to manage a life-changing win.
Shared experiences from previous winners boiled down to four major points: Think first about what to do with the money; consider privacy; get advice from professionals; and do some of the things you’ve always dreamed of.
Lotto NZ said a sample plan could include immediate next steps, the steps in a month, three months, six months and one year.
Beyond this, it said longer term questions could include: “What have you always wanted for your life and the people around you? What are the things you value most?”
It also said most winners told only their immediate family.
“Once most of your winnings are secured in an interest-earning account, take some time to come back down to earth before you make any bigger decisions,” Lotto advised.
Players have until 7.30pm on Saturday to buy a ticket online or in a store. The draw is live on TVNZ 1 at 8pm.
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