'You’ve got the whole lot': How one man scooped four Lotto First Division prizes

Author: NZ Herald ,
Publish Date: Fri, 10 Jul 2026, 1:44pm

One man won all four First Division prizes on a single ticket purchased in Huntly. Composite / Doug Sherring, Michael Bradley

A Waikato local has beaten the odds in Lotto, scooping all four First Division prizes in the first draw of July.

Heads were turned when Lotto revealed the four winning First Division prizes from last Wednesday’s draw were all sold at the same retailer, The Bookshop and Lotto on Huntly’s Main St.

First Division carries a prize of $1 million, split into $250,000 for each winning ticket.

With speculation high over the shop’s apparent lucky strike, the Government-owned agency has since confirmed a local in the township – a regular player who chooses his own numbers each time – was responsible for winning all four.

According to Lotto, the man’s ticket carried four lines with the same Lotto numbers, with different Powerball numbers for each one.

However, the fact he had won on all four lines didn’t click until reading media reports.

“At first I wasn’t actually sure how much I’d won, because I read online there were four winners,” the man, speaking on the condition of anonymity, told Lotto.

“I read an article where Lotto said it was likely there was one winner with four lines on one ticket – and that’s when it clicked that it was probably me.”

Unsure of the result, the man went into his local Lotto store the following day to check his ticket.

“The man behind the counter just looked at my ticket and said, ‘you’ve got the whole lot!’,” he said.

“It was exciting to have it confirmed, but I tried to play it smooth.”

The man said he shared the news with his partner at home, who “initially didn’t read all the zeros and thought it was $1000″.

Now that the $1m prize had arrived in his bank account, the man plans to use the earnings to support his family.

“I’m going to help my kids out first,” he said.

“And then I’ll keep what’s left over.”

Powerball rolled over last Wednesday after failing to be struck, with the jackpot rising to $20m.

Powerball players missed out once more at the subsequent Saturday draw, and again at this Wednesday’s draw, meaning it will climb to $25m when drawn again tomorrow night.