Unlucky coin toss for Rotorua Lotto punter

30th July 2010

A toss of the coin came between a Rotorua Lotto punter and "the big one" this week.

The Pak 'N Save shopper won $147,742 cash in Big Wednesday's second division and had all the right numbers for the first-division prize - but had chosen tails instead of heads.

"They were so close," NZ Lotteries spokeswoman Karen Jones said.

Had the coin toss gone their way, the winners would have walked away with $2.5 million cash, an Audi R8, a Porsche Cayenne, a $250,000 Visa Platinum card, a $250,000 cash prize towards a luxury travel package, a Four Winns boat and $750,000 cash towards a bach.

As of yesterday, the winner had yet to claim their prize, Ms Jones said.

She said they could register their claim at any Lotto retailer.

There were a total of 50,574 winners in this week's Big Wednesday draw.

 As it wasn't struck this week, the first-division cash prize will jackpot to $3 million next Wednesday.