First $1m online Instant Kiwi prize won by Tasman woman

A Tasman woman has won the first ever $1 million prize from an Instant Kiwi online game.

Lotto NZ said the game, Millionaire Money Match, was launched last month – the first Instant Kiwi game to offer a $1 million prize since the games were introduced to MyLotto in 2017.

Prior to this win, the largest prize won on Instant Kiwi online was $200,000.

The winner said she initially logged into the MyLotto app last Thursday morning to buy a ticket for Saturday’s $40 million Powerball draw.

She then had a bit of spare money in her online account, and decided to try the $15 Millionaire Money Match game.

The woman said “she couldn’t believe it” when she found out she won.

“I didn’t know how to react – whether I should laugh, cry or scream.

“I don’t usually play the online Instant Kiwi games – and I actually only saw it because I bought a ticket for Powerball because the jackpot was so big.”

The woman added she saw the game and decided to give it a go, “never expecting to win this much”.

“When it said I had won $1 million, I thought, ‘no… this can’t be right’.”

She called Lotto NZ to check on her win, and said she was “walking around my house in a daze thinking ‘how did that happen? I’m a millionaire now’.”

“My family thought I was playing a prank on them.”

Lotto NZ head of corporate communications Will Hine said the win was a significant milestone for the game.

“We’re excited to celebrate our first ever Instant Kiwi online millionaire.

“While $1 million prizes have previously been won in-store on our Instant Kiwi scratchies, this is the first time we’ve had an online winner claim a prize that big.”

Lotto NZ said the winner was still deciding what to do with her windfall, but one thing on her wishlist was a brand new “dream car”.

Last Saturday, two Powerball players became overnight multimillionaires after sharing the $40 million jackpot, taking home $20.1 million each. On Sunday, it was revealed the players were from Auckland.