Lotto NZ has announced a $10 million Must Be Won jackpot for this Saturday's Powerball draw, the final draw before the current 10-ball game is retired.
From Sunday, Powerball moves to a new 14-ball game featuring bigger prizes and more winners. The first draw with the expanded game will be held on Wednesday next week.
Lotto NZ Chief Innovation and Product Officer Ben Coney says the lottery has boosted this weekend's jackpot to $10 million.
"We're making this draw a Must Be Won event to clear the jackpot prize pool, before we reset the game to 14-balls and a brand-new starting jackpot of $5 million.
"With a big prize pool up for grabs, we expect plenty of Kiwis will want to get in on the action."
Coney says if there are no winners in Powerball Division 1, the Must Be Won jackpot will be shared in the next division down where there are winners.
"The great thing about Must Be Won draws is that the prize often gets shared. We've previously held 13 Must Be Won draws and in eight of those cases the jackpot has been split among multiple winners."
MyLotto ticket checking
Coney says Lotto NZ needs to make updates to MyLotto from Saturday evening so that tickets for the new 14-ball game can go on sale from Sunday morning.
"As a result, players will be unable to log in to MyLotto on Saturday night after the draw, which means it won't be possible to view tickets or use the ticket-checker function.
"We'll be back to full functionality, including the ticket-checker, on Sunday morning.
"As an alternative, some MyLotto players may wish to take a screenshot of their ticket or jot down the numbers on a piece of paper in advance of the draw.
"While customers won't be able to log in to MyLotto, they will be able to visit the results page on the site after the draw on Saturday night to confirm the numbers that were drawn and prizes across each division, and work out whether they are a winner.
"We know there will be high interest in checking results because it's a Must Be Won draw, and thank customers for bearing with us as get ready for the updated Powerball game."
Coney says games will be unavailable to purchase on MyLotto and at Lotto retail counters from 7.30pm on Saturday. Instant Kiwi Online games will be unavailable from 6.30pm. Sales will resume as normal on Sunday morning.
Key Times & Dates
Saturday 12 September: $10 million Must Be Won draw and final draw under the 10-ball game.
6.30pm Saturday 12 September: Instant Kiwi Online games close.
7.30pm Saturday 12 September: MyLotto and Lotto retail counters close to enable the transition to the new game.
Sunday 13 September: MyLotto reopens and tickets for the new 14-ball Powerball game go on sale.
Wednesday 16 September: First draw of new 14-ball game
