First Division Lotto win for Blenheim man

Redwoodtown’s lucky Lotto shop has sold another winning ticket, this time for $333k.

The Blenheim winner, who wishes to remain anonymous, says his heart ‘skipped a few beats’ when he realised he was the lucky winner.

He says he regularly buys his tickets from his local store, but checks them only every few weeks.

After finishing work last Saturday, he popped into the store to grab a ticket for that night’s draw as usual, when the store owner asked him if he had checked his tickets recently.

“We were having a chat when he suddenly asked if I had any tickets to check.

“I said ‘yeah, a few at home, why?’ That’s when he told me they had sold a $333k ticket the week before and he believed it was still unclaimed.”

The man thought nothing more of it and went home.

It was only later that evening when he and his wife decided to get Chinese takeaways for dinner that he remembered what the store owner had said and grabbed his tickets to check while they waited for their food.

“I thought I might as well go back to the store and check while I was waiting,” said the man.

“But you never actually think you will have the winning ticket, do you?”

First he won a couple of bonus tickets. Then he saw ‘First Division winner’ suddenly pop up on the screen.

“I thought it was a bit unusual – not something I had seen before. Then the store owner looked at me, then back at his screen and said ‘you know what this means, don’t you? You’re the winner, you’ve won $333k!’

“My heart skipped a few beats at that point – it’s an awesome feeling, but so surreal,” he said.

After filling in the Prize Claim Form and finally picking up their food, the couple headed home to let their win sink in.

“We had a lot to talk about when we got home, and when we finally stopped we celebrated with our cold Chinese takeaways and a bottle of red,” laughed the man.

The couple are looking forward to paying their mortgage and doing some DIY around their house.

“This win is going to take the pressure off and help us to do a few things around the house.

“We are so pleased to know that the prize was shared by three people too – it’s nice knowing that others will feel the joy of winning and how it will help them.”

The $333k winning Lotto First Division ticket was sold at Redwood Lotto in Blenheim for the draw on Saturday 7th May 2022.

Redwoodtown Lotto has sold a score of winning tickets, including a $9million First Division win in 2020.