The NZ Lotto Bonus Ball is the seventh number drawn in every Wednesday and Saturday Lotto draw, and it does less than its name suggests. It can't help a line win Division 1, and on its own it wins nothing. What it does is split three matching levels in two: five, four or three of the six winning numbers plus the Bonus Ball put a line in Division 2, 4 or 6, one division above the same count without it.
The seventh number out of the machine
Lotto NZ, formally the New Zealand Lotteries Commission, runs the game under the Lotto Rules 2025, made under the Gambling Act 2003 and in force since 29 September 2025. The rules define the two kinds of number in near-identical words. The standard lotto winning numbers are "the first 6 numbers between 1 and 40 (inclusive) that are selected on a random basis at each drawing". The bonus number is "the seventh number between 1 and 40 (inclusive) that is selected on a random basis at each drawing". Same range, same random drawing: the Bonus Ball is simply the next number out after the six. The Powerball, which only matters to lines with Powerball added, comes from a separate group of numbers.
Nothing extra goes on your ticket for it. A standard Lotto line is six numbers, marked by you or chosen by Lucky Dip, and rule 10 of the Lotto Rules 2025 prices it at NZ$0.70. There's no seventh box for the Bonus Ball. Your six numbers do double duty instead: first you count how many are among the winning six, then you check whether one of the numbers left over is the Bonus Ball.
That's also why the Bonus Ball can't touch Division 1. Division 1 is a line matching all six winning numbers in any order, which leaves no number spare. Five winning numbers plus the Bonus Ball, however close it looks, is Division 2.
The bonus number is part of the official result, too: the rules require published results to include "the winning numbers and the bonus number". The latest draw is on the NZ Lotto results page on lottery.fm.
Three matching levels the Bonus Ball splits in two
Lotto has seven divisions. Division 1 stands alone, and the other six form three pairs, with the Bonus Ball the only difference within each pair. Odds are per line, from lottery.fm's NZ Lotto game facts as of 5 October 2026.
-
Six winning numbers: Division 1, at 1 in 3,838,380. There is no Bonus Ball version.
-
Five winning numbers: Division 2 with the Bonus Ball, at 1 in 639,730; Division 3 without it, at 1 in 19,386.
-
Four winning numbers: Division 4 with the Bonus Ball, at 1 in 7,754; Division 5 without it, at 1 in 485.
-
Three winning numbers: Division 6 with the Bonus Ball, at 1 in 363; Division 7 without it, at 1 in 35.
Below three, the Bonus Ball does nothing for a Lotto line: two winning numbers plus the Bonus Ball isn't a Lotto division.
Division 6 sits below Division 5 yet is the shorter shot of the two, at 1 in 363 against 1 in 485. At the top, Division 2 is the longest shot on the list after Division 1.
Every draw is random and independent. Which numbers have come up as the Bonus Ball before says nothing about the next draw, and no way of choosing numbers changes the odds on a line. Extra lines are extra entries, each paid for in full; none of them changes the odds on any other line.
Six numbers first, the Bonus Ball second
-
Count against the six. How many of your six numbers are among the six winning numbers? Leave the Bonus Ball out of this count.
-
Check the seventh only at three, four or five. If one of your remaining numbers is the bonus number, the line moves up into the Bonus Ball division of its pair.
-
Settle on one division. Under rule 44, each winning selection is eligible for one prize only. Five winning numbers plus the Bonus Ball is a Division 2 line, not Division 2 and Division 3 together.
Step 2 is where mistakes creep in. The Bonus Ball never stands in for a missing winning number. Four winning numbers plus the Bonus Ball is Division 4, not Division 3. And five winning numbers make Division 2 only when the sixth number on the line is the Bonus Ball; any other sixth number leaves it in Division 3.
A combo selection, the rules' term for system play such as System 7 or System 8, is checked the same way, just more times. The rules turn a combo into every six-number combination it contains, and each selection on a ticket is a separate entry, so every line inside it gets its own count and its own Bonus Ball check. If you'd rather not count by hand, enter a line in the lottery.fm ticket checker.
How a Bonus Ball division's prize is set
Divisions 1 to 6 have no fixed prize under the Lotto Rules 2025. Each takes a set share of the draw's prize pool, counted after Division 7's prizes have been allocated, and that share is split equally between every winning line in the division, rounded to the nearest dollar. Rule 26 sets the shares, and the Bonus Ball divisions don't simply get bigger ones than their partners: Division 2 takes 10.990% and Division 3 10.900%, Division 4 takes 2.500% and Division 5 21.780%, and Division 6 takes 21.310%. Division 1's share is 32.520%.
So what a Bonus Ball division pays in any draw depends on the size of that draw's pool and on how many lines land in the division. Lotto NZ can also add money from its prize reserve fund to a division before or after a draw (rule 41). The amount is known only once the draw is done, and the rules require the published results to show what each winning line in each division receives.
Two more rules govern money nobody wins. If no line wins one of Divisions 2 to 6, that division's share is added to the next division down that does have a winner, or, if no division below it has one, to the prize pool for the next Lotto game (rule 42). Division 1 is handled differently: if nobody wins it, its share goes into the prize reserve fund (rule 28). It isn't moved down to Division 2, because the move-down rule covers only the divisions below Division 1.
Division 7 is the one fixed prize: NZ$2.80 for each winning line.
Bonus lines, Powerball and Strike: where the Bonus Ball stops
|
⚠️ Bonus lines aren't the Bonus Ball. Division 7 (three winning numbers without the Bonus Ball) is paid as four "bonus standard lotto selections" under rule 59: four Lotto lines for the next game, picked at random by Lotto NZ's computer system. The word "bonus" is all they have in common. If no Lotto game is on sale when you claim, the rules pay the NZ$2.80 in money instead. |
A Powerball line still plays Lotto. Rule 26(5) counts a Lotto line bought with Powerball as a standard Lotto line, so every division above applies to it. Powerball itself is a separate game with its own prize pool, and the Bonus Ball reaches into it as well. In the Lotto Rules 2025, Powerball's Divisions 2, 4 and 6 follow the same five, four and three plus Bonus Ball pattern, with a matching Powerball on top. From 13 September 2026, Powerball also has a Division 8, which Lotto NZ says is won by matching "two Lotto numbers, the Bonus Ball and the Powerball on a line". So two winning numbers and the Bonus Ball, which win nothing in Lotto alone, can count once a matching Powerball is added.
Strike leaves it out. Strike's winning numbers are the first four Lotto winning numbers, in the order drawn. The Bonus Ball is the seventh number out, so it has no part in Strike.
Claiming a prize
Claim within 12 months. Every Lotto prize, Bonus Ball divisions included, must be claimed within 12 months of the draw date or it's forfeited (rule 55). A printed ticket can be claimed from the day after the draw. Any retailer can pay a prize of NZ$1,000 or less; bigger prizes are paid only by Lotto NZ, though the claim can go through a retailer (rules 56 and 57). Prizes on tickets issued electronically by Lotto NZ can't be claimed from a retailer, and money prizes are credited to the purchaser (rule 54).
Tax. Lottery prizes in New Zealand are tax-free. That's general information, not tax advice.
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 (New Zealand Lotteries Commission) · made 20 August 2025, in force 29 September 2025 · Lotto Rules 2025 (SL 2025/174) · The Lotto Rules 2025 published by Lotto NZ (PDF)
-
Lotto New Zealand (media release, published via Scoop) · 28 August 2026 · More Powerballs, More Prizes Coming 13 September · Lotto NZ's release on the Powerball changes
-
lottery.fm game facts database · facts as of 5 October 2026 · Lotto NZ — game facts · NZ Lotto game facts on lottery.fm
