A Tasman woman has become the first person to win $1 million through an Instant Kiwi online game after a spur-of-the-moment decision on MyLotto turned her into an instant millionaire.
Millionaire Money Match launched last month and is the first Instant Kiwi online game to offer a $1 million top prize since online Instant Kiwi games were introduced to MyLotto in 2017.
Before last week's win, the largest prize won on an Instant Kiwi online game was $200,000.
The winner, who wants to remain anonymous, says she logged into the MyLotto app on Thursday morning to buy a ticket for Saturday's $40 million Powerball draw.
With some money left in her online account, she decided to try the $15 Millionaire Money Match game.
Moments later, she was staring at a message telling her she had won $1 million.
“I couldn’t believe it – I didn’t know how to react – whether I should laugh, cry or scream,” the woman says.
“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.
“I saw the game and thought I’d 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 immediately called Lotto New Zealand to check the win.
The rest of the day was spent trying to come to terms with becoming an instant millionaire and convincing her family she was not joking.
“I was walking around my house in a daze just thinking, ‘How did that even happen? I’m a millionaire now’,” she says.
“My family thought I was playing a prank on them.”
While the winner is still deciding what to do with her windfall, one thing firmly on her wish list is a new dream car.
