Grant Bros. in Gisborne sold a ticket for Saturday's draw that came back worth NZ$28.25 million. When Lotto NZ published the winning locations, the shop was all that went with that win — the operator named no one. One ticket, sold over one counter, was the whole of NZ Powerball First Division for the draw of 5 September 2026.
One ticket, two First Division prizes
The NZ$28.25 million was not a single prize, and Lotto NZ set the breakdown out plainly: NZ$28 million from Powerball First Division and NZ$250,000 from Lotto First Division, both on the same ticket. That is how the game works here — Powerball in New Zealand rides on the Lotto draw rather than running as a draw of its own, so one ticket can land in both games on the same night.
Lottery prizes are tax-free in New Zealand, which is general information rather than advice — anything specific about claiming a prize this size is Lotto NZ's to answer.
Where the night's other prizes landed
Gisborne was not the only place on the list. Three further players took Lotto First Division at NZ$250,000 each — two of them playing through MyLotto, in Northland and in Thames-Coromandel, and one holding a ticket from Dairy Flat Food Mart & Liquor in Auckland. A Strike Four ticket bought on MyLotto in Christchurch was worth NZ$400,000.
One division down, Lotto Second Division went to 20 players at NZ$20,945 each. One of them also won Powerball Second Division, which took that player's total to NZ$50,419.
What stands out about the Gisborne win is how little there is to it. No near-miss, no ticket rescued from a coat pocket — a shop in Gisborne, a Saturday draw, and a single ticket carrying two First Division prizes. NZ Powerball First Division is a genuine long shot, and the draw that produced it was random: every line entered had exactly the same chance as every other, and nothing in past results shifts that for the next one. This draw also fell under the outgoing NZ Powerball format, which changes on 13 September 2026. The numbers and divisions from it are on the NZ Powerball results for 5 September 2026, alongside the NZ Lotto results.
For now, the public record of the night's biggest win comes to three things: a store name, a city, and a figure. For a game under no obligation to explain itself, that is a fuller story than most tickets ever get.
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Always confirm winning numbers, prize amounts, and deadlines with the official operator before acting on a ticket — the operator's published results are the only ones that count.
Sources
- Lotto New Zealand media release, 6 September 2026 — Winning Locations Of Last Night's Lotto Draw, published via Scoop.
