Your chances of winning Lotto potentially get better when it’s a must-win draw as Saturday night’s will be.
But you might also end up sharing the winners with more players.
Powerball rolled over on Wednesday, meaning tomorrow’s $55 million jackpot must end up in someone’s bank account.
Under Lotto rules, when a jackpot gets to $50 million the next draw becomes a “must be won”.
In those circumstances, if nobody gets all six Lotto numbers plus the Powerball number, the prize rolls down divisions until a winner or winners are found.
That means the $55 million could be split between multiple people.
Robert Pagliarini, who specialises in managing sudden wealth, spoke to Breakfast ahead of tomorrow’s massive jackpot draw. (Source: 1News)
What happens to the odds?
Lotto corporate communications manager Sarah McCormack explained the chances of winning a division one ticket remains the same, no matter how high the prize is or if it must be won – at about one in 38 million.
But if the prize rolls down the divisions, the odds get smaller.
“If no one wins division one and it rolls down, then the odds of winning would, for example, be the division two odds, which are 6.4 million per line,” McCormack said. “So that’s easier to win, but still huge odds.”
She said the most likely outcome would be multiple ticket holders splitting the winnings.
“We had seven winners in our 2024 must-win draw, each of whom won $7.18 million out of the $50 million jackpot.”
There have been 12 must-win draws in Lotto’s history, with seven of those shared between winners.
High ticket sales
McCormack said Lotto expected to sell 3 million tickets for Saturday’s draw, with more people becoming interested as the jackpot climbs.
She recommended players get their tickets early because “it’ll be really busy on Saturday in the stores and on My Lotto in the evening”.
“Avoid those times if you can,” she said.
She also urged people to “treat this as a bit of fun”.
“Don’t stretch yourself.”
“Big jackpots still have small odds, and one ticket is enough to be in the drawer, so that’s all they need to just join in the fun.”
Lotto NZ head of corporate communications, Will Hine, said players should stay informed on the odds and not spend more than they can afford.
“You don’t need to purchase more than one ticket to be in the draw, and a $6 ticket will enable you to do that. It’s all about playing a little and dreaming a lot.
“Even with a jackpot this huge, the odds of winning Powerball remain very small at 1 in 38.3 million per line.”
