Someone in Auckland bagged the AUD$ 9 million Big Wednesday jackpot, but the New Zealand Lottery has not revealed the identity of the person or syndicate who claimed their life-changing prize.
Although the identity of the winner may be a mystery at present, the lottery said the winning ticket was purchased from Pt Chevalier Lotto Plus. Store owner Pushpa Patel discovered she'd sold a winning ticket when her daughter checked through their emails and found a notification from the New Zealand Lottery.
According to Patel, the ticket-holder has already checked their ticket at another store.
"Apparently they were waiting outside the shop at 7.30 this morning [Thursday]. They collected it somewhere on the North Shore," Patel said. "We're hoping it's someone who needs it."
This is not the first time the Pt Chevalier Lotto Plus has sold a big-prize-winning ticket. In the last 20 years it has sold 12 first division winners along with 97 tickets that secured second division prizes.
The last time the Pt Chevalier Lotto Plus sold a first-division-winning ticket was in 2012 and history appears to be repeating itself because that prize was also claimed at another store.
Thinking back, Patel recalled the time a player discovered she'd won a car and got so excited she ran out of the store and then back in again.
"I had to give her a glass of water. That was in 2006," Patel said.
Big Wednesday is a mid-week lottery that draws every Wednesday night in New Zealand and offers cash and luxury prizes.
