An unknowing Stoke Lotto Powerball player carried around a $4 million prize winning ticket around in her handbag for nearly a month, before finally checking the ticket this week and realising she was a big winner.

Summer may be coming to an end but for two South island Lotto players in Blenheim and Marlborough this weekend will seem longer and brighter after each winning $500,000 with Lotto First Division, says NZ Lotteries' Chief Executive, Todd McLeay.

A MyLotto winner from Auckland, who bought a Power Dip online last week, was today celebrating after claiming his $500,000 share of Lotto First Division.

For an amazing third week in a row, a Lotto Powerball player from Manukau has beaten the odds and won a Powerball $3 million First Division prize, says NZ Lotteries' Chief Executive, Todd McLeay.

For a second week in a row, a Lotto Powerball player has beaten the odds and won a multi-million dollar Powerball prize, says NZ Lotteries' Chief Executive, Todd McLeay.

Just two weeks on from the last big win, Powerball First Division has been struck by a lucky player in Whanganui winning over $4 million, says NZ Lotteries' Chief Executive, Todd McLeay.

The shock of discovering they'd won $9.3 million had a Powerball winner sitting on the nearest available seat - the Lotto ticket rubbish bin, says NZ Lotteries' Chief Executive, Todd McLeay.

A missing coupon meant that Lotto's newest millionaire almost bought a ticket with the wrong numbers in last Saturday's draw, says NZ Lotteries' Chief Executive, Todd McLeay.

A syndicate of three friends from Gisborne, who have been playing the same Lotto numbers for 20 years, are the latest winners of a $1 million Lotto First Division prize.

A North Shore woman got the shock of her life last Friday when she checked her tickets at Auckland airport - but didn't call her husband immediately because she didn't want to give him a heart attack on the phone, says NZ Lotteries' Chief Executive Todd McLeay.