A Hawke's Bay couple have revealed they struggled to sleep after winning a "mind-boggling" $8.3 million with Lotto Powerball last Saturday.
It was a bright start to the Lunar New Year for the lucky Hawke's Bay couple, who wished to remain anonymous.
The couple said they're regular players who bought a ticket earlier in the week.
"We fell asleep during the draw but woke up later and decided to check our ticket online," the woman said in a statement via Lotto.
"I saw four numbers line up, which I thought would be a bonus ticket. Then, I had five numbers, then six and, finally, the Powerball."
Once she realised what had just happened, she was shell-shocked and quickly told her husband.
"I couldn't believe it - I was shaking like a leaf. I showed my husband and said, 'I think we just won $8 million.'"
Her husband was "just as gobsmacked. It was mind-boggling", the woman said.
The couple managed to calm down enough to fill out their prize claim form - but later found sleep difficult.
"It was a very long night - we couldn't help but think about all the things we wanted to do," the woman said.
But now they've had a couple of days to calm down and come to terms with their massive win, they've started to form a plan.
"We're not going to squander it. We're... down-to-earth people - we'll buy some nice things but save and invest the rest for our retirement.
"This is life-changing for us - in a good way."
Last Saturday's win was the second Powerball First Division winner of 2024 and the $8.3 million prize was made up of $8 million from Powerball First Division and $333,333 from Lotto First Division.
The first Powerball victory of 2024 came last month when a Canterbury player won $17.25 million - after initially thinking they'd only bagged $17,250.
