A Bay of Plenty man will be kicking off the New Year with a bang after snapping up the top prize of $1 million in Lotto's Christmas Promotion.

The regular Lotto player, who would like to remain anonymous, said that he had recently dreamed he would win some money.

But never in his wildest dreams did he think that he would be starting 2018 with $1 million in the bank.

'I had a restless night's sleep not too long ago and was dreaming that I'd won some money, but whoever would have thought I'd ever win a million dollars,” says the winner.

The man usually buys his tickets through MyLotto, and he was checking his emails recently when he noticed something different.

'The email said ‘congratulations'. At first, I really wasn't sure how to react or what to think.

'I thought it must be a scam, so I quickly called Lotto to see if it was true.”

After a few minutes of talking to the helpdesk operator, the million-dollar win was confirmed and the man realised that his dream had actually become a reality.

'I was so overwhelmed when I realised that I had won and how much I'd won,” says the winner.

'My wife had to pour me a whiskey to calm the nerves and stop the shaking,” he laughed.

The thrill of this brand new millionaire's Lotto win hasn't quite worn off yet and he's still pinching himself to try and believe his good luck.

'I keep checking my bank account to see that it's true,” he laughed.

The MyLotto player won the top prize of $1 million in the 2017 Lotto Christmas Triple Dip promotion.