Saturday's $10 million must be won Powerball draw has caused Lotto NZ to warn players of potential queues and website issues due to high demand.
The upcoming draw will be the last under the 10-ball format, with Powerball transitioning to a 14-ball game from September 16.
MyLotto and Lotto distributors will temporarily shut their sales systems from 7.30pm overnight in order to allow time to update to the new 14-ball format, with services expected to fully return on Sunday, when players will be able to buy tickets for next Wednesday's draw.
Lotto NZ's head of corporate communications Will Hine said customers should plan ahead and try to avoid the online waits ahead of the 7.30pm closing time.
“With the ticket checker unavailable, MyLotto players may wish to take a screenshot of their ticket or write down the numbers on a piece of paper before the draw," he said.
“As always with any big Powerball draw, we encourage customers to buy their tickets early. We expect there to be queues in some retail stores this afternoon ahead of the draw.”
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The Lotto website will still allow players to view the winning numbers for each division during the shutdown, meaning customers will still be able to check their tickets against the results, even without the ticket-checker tool.
Instant Kiwi Online games will shut earlier still, closing at 6.30pm.
Hine said all services, including the ticket-checker, would be back to normal by Sunday morning.
"We appreciate there will be high interest in checking results because it's a Must Be Won draw. We thank all our players for their understanding and patience," he said.
"We'll be back to full functionality, including the ticket-checker, tomorrow morning."
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