$20 million jackpot up for grabs in tonight’s Lotto draw

Lotto NZ’s Powerball is a potentially life-changing $20 million jackpot tonight, after rolling over last Saturday.

So far this year, 13 people have hit the jackpot, according to Lotto’s records. Thirty-two have become millionaires and 214 have won prizes of more than $100,000.

A further $1 million has been won through Instant Kiwi’s $15 Millionaire Money Match.

How does it stack up to previous jackpots?

In July, two Auckland Lotto players split $40 million, the biggest jackpot on offer so far this year.

The biggest individual win of this year so far went to an Ashburton family in June, who claimed $28.6 million after winning Powerball and three shares of Lotto. They had been playing the same numbers for years on a $7.50 ticket.

The biggest individual Lotto win in New Zealand history was made in 2024, when an Auckland family claimed $44.06 million in the Powerball and an extra $666,670 with Lotto.

Then in 2025, three lucky players shared a record $55 million Powerball prize, splitting into almost $18.4 million each.

If a player hits the jackpot tonight, full information will not be available until tomorrow. That’s because earlier this year, Lotto NZ made a change to draw announcements, now withholding winning ticket locations until the next morning.

What are the odds?

The chance of winning Powerball First Division is currently 1 in 38.3 million per line, regardless of jackpot amount, online versus in-store and store location.

Last year, 1News spoke to Lotto’s head of corporate communications Will Hine about players’ different approaches to Powerball.

He said there are various reasons people pick their numbers, “and people do sometimes think that certain numbers may carry more luck than others”.

However, “all numbers have the same number of chances of coming out of the machine,” he added.

“There isn’t any winning formula, so by all means, people should choose their own numbers if they wish to do so, but it really is random.”

Other superstitions, such as tracking down past winning stores, were also debunked by Hine, who said: “These are games of chance.”

Players have until 7.30pm on Wednesday to buy a ticket online or in a store. The draw is live on TVNZ 1 at 8pm.