New Zealand Lotto winner tracks down winning ticket six months after draw date

New Zealand Lotto winner tracks down winning ticket six months after draw date

A lotto winner from New Zealand has claimed his $333,333 prize from the NZ Lotto six months after the draw because he forgot where he put his ticket.Earlier this year we told you about a family syndicate who shared a $7 million NZ Powerball prize, and our most recent winner, who chose to remain anonymous as he claimed his prize this month, purchased his NZ Lotto ticket in March from a Mill Street Pak ‘n’ Save in his home town of Hamilton. He then put the ticket somewhere safe and forgot all about it until he heard of a local unclaimed winner earlier this month.Just like a Siberian doctor who took almost six months to claim his Gosloto 645 jackpot, the NZ Lotto winner heard on the grapevine that a big prize had been won on a ticket purchased at his local store but hadn’t yet been claimed. He then wondered if he should perhaps find his unchecked ticket to discover if he was the mystery winner. “I knew I had bought a ticket from that store, so when I heard that no one had claimed the prize yet, I thought there was a good chance I could be the winner,” he told NZ Lotto officials.This story is not similar to that of Willie Nelson from California who forgot his winning Powerball ticket in his car for three days, and an Irish player who found her EuroMillions Plus winning ticket in the pantry six weeks after the draw.“I just had a lucky feeling I couldn’t shake,” the winner continued, as he explained that he start searching all over for it, including in his car, and all of his house, but he couldn’t find it anywhere. Last weekend, however, that lucky feeling paid off when he popped into his office to collect something and decided to clean out his desk drawers while he was there.“I pulled out a handful of old receipts, then I saw my Lotto wallet buried beneath all the junk. I quickly grabbed it and when I opened it up there was my missing ticket.” Luckily, he was still at his desk and able to jump straight on the internet and check his NZ Lotto ticket, which of course came up as the winner. He said that after he had checked the ticket multiple times he began jumping around the office, which he could do at liberty as there was nobody else there on a Saturday.He then called his wife to share the good news, who of course thought he was joking. The couple are planning to use their NZ Lotto winnings to pay off some bills and go on a family holiday.Purchase your lottery tickets online at Lottery24.com. It’s quick and easy.