How to Play Powerball NZ: What It Adds to a Lotto Line

How to play Powerball NZ begins with Lotto: there's no Powerball-only ticket. Powerball is an extra number from 1 to 14 that you add to an NZ Lotto line for NZ$0.80 on top of the Lotto price, and the line then plays both games in the same Wednesday or Saturday draw. When the Lotto numbers on that line win a prize and its Powerball matches too, the win is boosted with a Powerball prize; six Lotto numbers plus the Powerball is Division 1, the jackpot. Australia, the US and the UK each have a Powerball of their own, but this guide covers only the one run by Lotto NZ (the New Zealand Lotteries Commission).

Building a Powerball line, from the Lotto numbers up

The steps below are how to play Powerball NZ from scratch, following Lotto NZ's how-to-play page and the Lotto Rules 2025, as amended by the Lotto Amendment Rules 2026.

1. Start with the Lotto line underneath

A Powerball number can't stand on its own. Rule 8 lets a player make a Powerball selection "only if the player makes a standard lotto selection in conjunction with" it.

So the first job is an ordinary Lotto line: six numbers between 1 and 40, picked yourself or left to a Dip, Lotto NZ's name for a random pick. Each Lotto line costs NZ$0.70, a ticket needs at least four lines, and Powerball keeps the same four-line minimum.

Stop here and you hold a plain Lotto ticket, with no Powerball division open to it.

2. Give each line a Powerball from 1 to 14

Lotto NZ's instruction is to "pick an extra number from 1 to 14 on each lotto line", at NZ$0.80 per line, "in addition to the cost of Lotto". Rule 10 sets the same 80 cents for a Powerball selection.

You don't have to choose the number yourself. Rule 13 lets you ask for a Powerball picked at random, and Lotto NZ sells a Power Dip and a Triple Dip as easy options that include Powerball.

How you know it worked: every line you meant to add Powerball to shows a Powerball on the ticket. Rule 19 makes checking that the player's sole responsibility, by reading a printed ticket or, for one issued electronically, before confirming the purchase.

If the count doesn't match: when you mark fewer Powerballs than Lotto lines, rule 13 pairs them, unless your coupon says otherwise, with "the first standard lotto selection, and then the second standard lotto selection, and so on" until every Powerball has a line.

3. Choose the draw, or a run of them

Powerball is drawn with Lotto every Wednesday and Saturday, live on TVNZ 1 at around 8:20pm on Wednesdays and around 8pm on Saturdays, according to Lotto NZ.

A multi-draw ticket buys up to ten draws in advance, and an online subscription runs for 3, 6 or 12 months. If you go multi-draw, Lotto NZ may require the Powerball part to cover the same number of games as the Lotto lines it's played with (rule 21).

How the Powerball lifts a winning Lotto line

Under rule 24, each draw randomly selects the standard Lotto winning numbers, the bonus number and the Powerball winning number. A Powerball line is judged on all three, but its Lotto numbers decide whether the Powerball counts.

The rules' definition of a winning selection needs both halves: a Powerball that "correctly matches the lotto powerball winning number", issued with a Lotto line that "correctly matches the standard lotto winning numbers". Lotto NZ puts it more plainly: "Match the Powerball number on a winning Lotto line (including Lotto lines with the bonus ball), and your prize gets boosted."

Two practical points follow:

• The Powerball needs Lotto numbers beside it. Every division names Lotto numbers to match on the same line, so a matching Powerball without enough of them wins nothing.

• Only that line's Powerball counts. A match printed against one line does nothing for a Lotto win on another.

Lotto NZ illustrates the lift with two lines. Line A matches four Lotto numbers and wins Lotto Division 5. Line B matches the same number of Lotto numbers plus the Powerball, and wins Powerball Division 5. In Lotto NZ's words, "Matching the Powerball number enhances your Lotto win giving you a larger prize!" The prize column in its Powerball table carries the label "Lotto + Powerball combined". How the Lotto side of a line is counted, Bonus Ball included, is covered in our NZ Lotto Bonus Ball guide.

Division 7 shows the lift in fixed prizes. Three Lotto numbers on a line win Lotto Division 7, paid as four bonus Lotto lines. Add a matching Powerball and the line wins Powerball Division 7, which Lotto NZ lists as "$20 + 4 bonus lines". The NZ$20 is the Powerball's fixed prize under rule 30, as amended in 2026.

Division 8 is the exception: two Lotto numbers and the Bonus Ball win no Lotto prize on their own, because Lotto's lowest division, Division 7, calls for three Lotto numbers. The amendment rules define Division 8 as a matching Powerball on a line that also matches, in any order, "2 of the 6 standard lotto winning numbers drawn in that game plus the bonus number", and it pays a fixed NZ$12.

Eight Powerball divisions and the odds on one line

These are lottery.fm's game facts as of 10 November 2026; each figure is the chance for one line.

This 14-Powerball, eight-division form has applied since the amendment rules came into force on 13 September 2026.

Division 1 is the genuine long shot. Every Powerball draw is random and independent of the last. Earlier draws can't predict the next one, and numbers you select yourself have the same odds as a Dip. Rule 16 makes each selection on a ticket a separate entry, so a line costs its full price and leaves the odds on the others unchanged.

What the jackpot does between draws

Per Lotto NZ, the Powerball jackpot starts at NZ$5 million and grows each draw until it's won, and "Jackpots may increase at a faster rate if ticket sales are higher." When more than one line wins Division 1, the prize is divided equally.

Rollovers stop at a threshold. Once the jackpot reaches or exceeds NZ$60 million, the draw becomes a Must Be Won draw: if nobody wins Division 1, the prize rolls down to the next division where there are winners, which Lotto NZ describes as Division 2 or 3, and is shared equally among them. Lotto NZ can also call a Must Be Won draw "at other times and jackpot levels when deemed necessary to help with things like system upgrades or game changes".

Divisions 7 and 8 pay fixed prizes, and the explanatory note to the amendment rules says those prizes are allocated before the other divisions. Divisions 2 to 6 have no fixed prize: each is paid from a percentage share of the Powerball prize pool. For the jackpot on offer in the next draw, go to Lotto NZ; past results are on lottery.fm's NZ Powerball page.

Checking a Powerball ticket and claiming the prize

On MyLotto, tickets are checked automatically the next time you log in after the draw, and you can watch a virtual draw that ends by telling you whether the ticket won and how much. Prizes under NZ$1,000 go to your MyLotto wallet, and you can withdraw all or part of that to your nominated bank account. For prizes over NZ$1,000, you're directed to an online claim form and the prize is transferred to your nominated bank account.

A paper ticket can go through the MyLotto App scanner, or to a Lotto retailer, where you can use the ticket scanner or have the assistant check it for you. Prizes under NZ$1,000 are paid out in cash, and there's a form to fill out for bigger prizes. To check by hand, the MyLotto Results page lists the numbers drawn; start with each line's Lotto numbers, then its Powerball.

A few details catch people out:

• The deadline. The claim period for a Powerball prize is 12 months.

• Multi-draw tickets. If a printed multi-draw ticket wins, handing it in gets you a substitute ticket for any games not yet drawn (rule 21).

• Tax. Lottery prizes won in New Zealand are tax-free. That's general information, not tax advice.

Play for fun, within a budget you set in advance.

If gambling has stopped being fun, you can get free, confidential support at any time from the Gambling Helpline on 0800 654 655.

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 · How to play Lotto, Powerball and Strike · Lotto NZ's how-to-play page for Lotto, Powerball and Strike

• Lotto New Zealand (New Zealand Lotteries Commission) · Lotto Rules 2025 (2025/174) · Lotto NZ's copy of the Lotto Rules 2025 (PDF)

• Lotto New Zealand (New Zealand Lotteries Commission) · dated 5 March 2026, in force 13 September 2026 · Lotto Amendment Rules 2026 (2026/51) · Lotto NZ's copy of the Lotto Amendment Rules 2026 (PDF)

• Lotto New Zealand · Play Smart: Know the Odds · Lotto NZ's Play Smart odds page

• lottery.fm game facts database · facts as of 10 November 2026 · Powerball NZ — game facts · NZ Powerball game facts on lottery.fm