A Tasmanian woman has become the first person in New Zealand to win a NZ$1 million prize on an Instant Kiwi Online game, Lotto New Zealand confirmed on the 29th of July 2026. The prize came from a game called Millionaire Money Match, which was released only the previous month, and it was the first Instant Kiwi game to offer a NZ$1 million top prize. Since the games were first introduced to MyLotto back in 2017, up until this point, the largest prize that had ever been claimed on Instant Kiwi Online was NZ$200,000.
The winner told LottoNZ that she had logged into the MyLotto app on Thursday morning to buy a ticket for Saturday’s NZ$40 million Powerball draw. With money left over in her account, she decided to try the NZ$15 million Millionaire Money Match game – something. Interestingly, she said she doesn’t normally play these types of games at all.
When she hit the jackpot, she described not knowing whether to laugh, cry, or scream. She said that she immediately rang LottoNZ to check that the win was actually real before spending the rest of the day “walking around my house in a daze.”
LottoNZ Head of Corporate Communications, Will Hein, called the win a significant milestone, noting that NZ$1 million prizes had previously only been won on scratchies purchased in store. LottoNZ also said that the lucky lady was still deciding what to do with the money, although purchasing a new car was pretty high up on her priority list.
This most recent milestone comes on top of an unusually busy run of results. On the 25th July, for example, two Auckland ticket-holders ended up splitting the NZ$40 million Powerball jackpot, taking home NZD$20.1 million each. One of the tickets was purchased at Blockhouse Bay Poster Shop and Stationery, and the other was purchased online through the My Lotto app.
Each winner also collected NZ$111,111 from Lotto First Division. Lotto NZ later confirmed one share went to a young Auckland couple, with the man saying he “only bothers to purchase a ticket when the jackpot climbs above NZ$30 million.”
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Alex Smith