The Biggest Lotto & Powerball Wins in NZ History
Every couple of months a New Zealand Lotto or Powerball jackpot makes national news, and people start asking: what's the biggest win ever? Here's the full record book, from the largest single-ticket win to the biggest prize pools.
The top 5 largest single-ticket wins
| Prize | Where | Year |
|---|---|---|
| $44.07M | MyLotto, Auckland | 2024 |
| $44.06M | Hibiscus Coast (Dairy Flat Food Mart) | 2016 |
| $42.1M | Pōkeno, Waikato | 2021 |
| $37.12M | Wellington | 2023 |
| $33.05M | Christchurch | 2023 |
The record holder is a MyLotto ticket bought in Auckland in August 2025 — it won $44 million from Powerball plus a 1/15th share of that draw's Division One prize, for a total of $44,066,667.
Before that, the benchmark was the Hibiscus Coast couple who bought their ticket at Dairy Flat Food Mart in 2016 and took home $44.06 million — a story still told in every "biggest wins" list.
The biggest prize pools (shared)
Single tickets get the headlines, but some of the largest pools were split:
- $55 million — 2025, the largest Powerball pool ever advertised. Three players shared it, taking home almost $18.4 million each.
- $50 million — hit the cap several times: in 2024 seven players won $7.18 million each; in 2020 two players won $25.11 million each; and in another 2020 draw ten second-division winners shared the rolled-down $50M pool at $5 million each (a "Must Be Won" draw).
- $40 million — 25 July 2026, won by two players at just over $20.1 million each (one of those tickets, sold in Blockhouse Bay, famously stayed unclaimed for weeks).
2026 so far: the numbers
According to Lotto NZ's public winners record, 2026 has already produced:
- 11 Powerball jackpot winners
- 27 Lotto millionaires
- 184 prizes over $100,000
The biggest single win of 2026 went to an Ashburton family — their Four Square Netherby ticket won the $28.2 million Powerball on 3 June, plus three shares of Division One, taking the total past $28.6 million.
The full 2026 Powerball winner list (from our own draw archive):
| Date | Prize | Winner |
|---|---|---|
| 14 Jan | $10.2M | 1 player |
| 21 Jan | $5.33M | 1 player |
| 14 Feb | $5.08M | 3 players |
| 18 Feb | $4.5M | 1 player |
| 28 Mar | $12.75M | 2 players |
| 15 Apr | $14.3M | 1 player |
| 22 Apr | $5.5M | 1 player |
| 3 Jun | $28.2M | 1 player (Ashburton) |
| 6 Jun | $4.5M | 1 player |
| 25 Jul | $20.1M | 2 players |
What the numbers don't tell you
Big wins are rare, and the odds per line don't move: 1 in 53,737,320 for Powerball Division 1 since the 14-ball change (1 in 38,383,800 before that), every draw, every ticket. A bigger jackpot means a bigger dream — it doesn't make your ticket any more likely to win. The honest advice from every winner interview is the same: treat it as entertainment, set a budget, and if you do win, take your time before making any big decisions.
Fancy your own set of numbers?
I'll pick 30 fresh lines for the next draw — hot, balanced and wild card.