A man who has used the same six numbers for five years since the Covid-19 lockdown has won $5.3 million in Lotto Powerball. 

The Otago punter, who wants to remain anonymous, used the same line-up of numbers first chosen in 2020 when the pandemic first hit. 

The winning ticket was purchased at Windsor On the Spot Express, Port Chalmers, and the prize was made up of $5 million from Powerball First Division and $300,000 from Lotto First Division. 

After winning Saturday’s draw he slept next to the ticket for several days, not wanting to let his winning Lotto ticket out of his sight. 

The man said he heard over the radio on Sunday morning after Saturday’s draw that someone in the region had hit the big one the night before and wondered if the winner could be him. 

He said he quickly grabbed a paper, checked his numbers and crossed out each one by hand. 

He said he celebrated with a small party with close family. 

“We had champagne and a home-cooked dinner to mark the beginning of something new.” 

The winner said he was excited to enjoy life a little more and take their time making decisions. 

“Even though it hasn’t sunk in yet, this is a great moment in my life, and I’m very grateful for it.” 

Second major Lotto win in Otago in a week 

The man became the second person in Otago to become a multi-millionaire in a week after a Dunedin couple walked away with $5.5 million. 

The Dunedin winners – who have chosen not to be named – had heard that a local resident had scored the massive prize but presumed it wasn’t them, believing they had bought the winning ticket elsewhere. 

“I said to my partner, ‘ahh someone’s won, but it’s not us because we didn’t get our ticket from there this week’, – for some reason I was sure I’d bought it from a different shop,” the Dunedin woman said. 

She eventually checked her ticket while shopping for groceries. When it said she was a Division One Winner, the woman handed her ticket over to the operator. 

“I asked how much I’d won – she just looked at me and said, ‘it’s a big one’, and turned the ticket to show me the amount,” the woman explained. 

“I was really shocked – I couldn’t believe it!”