Luckiest store boasts 36,000 winners
Rotorua's luckiest Lotto store sold 36,000 winning tickets last year.
Figures from the NZ Lotteries' Commission rated Pak 'n Save Rotorua Lotto outlet as the region's luckiest, based on the number of winning tickets sold.
Outlet manager June Ratapu said the store, which paid out more than $428,000 in prize money last year, had many regular customers.
"You have your special customers that come in on the Monday and the ones that come in on the Tuesday, so you know who's coming in on what day," she said.
The Lucky Lotto Shop on Tutanekai St had the region's second highest winning ticket haul - 35,323 tickets paying out $438,700 in prize money.
And the Westend New World Lotto outlet scooped Rotorua's highest single prize with a second division $82,550 winning ticket in March.
More than 33,600 winning tickets were sold at the Westend outlet, giving it the third highest number of lucky tickets for the year.
Nationally, 24 Lotto millionaires were created last year.
Two South Auckland stores - less than 1km apart - topped the luckiest retailers' list by selling the most winning tickets.
Manukau Pak 'n Save and Countdown Manukau City Mall outlets notched up 78,550 and 73,711 respective winners last year. The Pak 'n Save outlet has been the luckiest store for three consecutive years.
In total, more than $2.6 million in prize money was netted between the two stores in 2012.
The third luckiest store, Christchurch's Hornby Mall, paid out $1.93 million in prize money for 69,901 winning tickets.
Lotto outlets in Pak 'n Save Riccarton and Radius Pharmacy Peter Dunkerley in Hastings rounded out the top five.
When it came to the year's biggest wins - Tauranga's AJ's Lotto store took out the top spot after selling a $27 million winning ticket. The Big Wednesday prize was claimed in September by a local man, who described himself as a "typical Kiwi bloke". It was the third biggest prize in NZ Lotteries' history.
Waikato's Te Kauwhata Foodmarket scored the year's second biggest prize after former check-out operator Trevor Cooper claimed a $26 million Powerball jackpot in April.
NZ Lotteries' chief executive Wayne Pickup said Mr Cooper's win gave Waikato the country's highest rate of per capita winnings for the year ($641.50).
Invercargill, which had a $20.5 million winner in November, came in second with a rate of $467.94. Few details about the millionaire winner were released, other than he was a South Island vintage motorcycle buff.
The $20.5 million win was the year's third largest Lotteries windfall.
Clutha, Tauranga and Napier rounded out the rest of the top five spots for per capita winnings.
Rotorua came in 47th with a rate of $50.92.
A Big Wednesday prize of $11.4 million, claimed on a ticket bought at Auckland's Royal Oak Mall Lotto kiosk, was the fourth biggest prize of the year.
This was followed by a Powerball win of nearly $10.4 million in Napier, claimed on a ticket sold at Napier Pak 'n Save.
"Over $375 million was won in prizes in 2012 with Lotto and Big Wednesday, with 144 First Division prizes won around the country," Mr Pickup said.
"We also increased the amount transferred to the NZ Lottery Grants Board, distributing a record $190.4 million."
- Additional reporting Sonya Bateson
Top stores in Rotorua for Lotto, Powerball, Strike and Big Wednesday
- Take Note Rotorua: 13 first division tickets sold, $5,191,092.60 in total
- Pak N Save Rotorua: 11 first division tickets sold, $6,025,851 in total
- The Lucky Lottery Shop: 9 first division tickets sold, $4,482,007 in total
- Countdown Rotorua: 6 first division tickets sold, $19,293,082 in total
- Hammer Hardware Rotorua: 6 first division tickets sold, $3,751,504.80 in total
- Westend New World: 6 first division tickets sold, $2,988,770 in total
Source: NZ Lotteries' Commission
