A Whakatāne Lotto player is among five lucky Kiwis across Aotearoa who became millionaires after each scoring a cool $1 million from Lotto and Instant Kiwi games.

"The winners spanned north to south, and all won off a paper ticket," says a Lotto spokesperson.

A couple from Morrinsville, who wish to remain anonymous, were still pinching themselves after their Lotto First Division win last Saturday.

“It’s surreal. Even though we’ve already claimed the ticket, we still can’t believe it,” the man said.

The couple found out in real-time as they watched the live draw on Saturday.

“I was watching the numbers being drawn and looking down at my ticket at the same time to see if any matched,” the man said.

“When I realised that one of my lines had all the numbers, I thought, ‘Yep, I’ve won Lotto!’

“My wife couldn’t believe it, and I hadn’t actually written the numbers down, so we weren’t totally sure. I rang my parents to confirm because they always write the numbers down.”

After his parents relayed the winning numbers, the man decided to scan his ticket on the MyLotto App. When it said he was a ‘Major Prize Winner’ he had to have a “second, third, fourth look” at the ticket to make sure.

“I then looked up the results online too to see if I was the only winner,” he laughed.

“Afterwards, we watched the All Blacks. But we didn’t get much sleep after that.”

With their win safely claimed, the couple are excited about the future. “We plan to pay off our mortgage and be debt-free. We’d love to take the family somewhere nice for a holiday too.”

Meanwhile, one Mosgiel player was “speechless” after scratching his way to $1 million on a $15 Millionaire Riches Instant Kiwi last weekend.

The man, who wishes to remain anonymous, bought the ticket last Friday.

“The scratchie was sitting in my truck for a day or two,” the man said. “I saw it there on the weekend and scratched it at home. It was a strange feeling when I scratched the winning number. I was excited but also speechless.”

“I tried to carry on like normal for the rest of the day and had a couple of beers that night to celebrate.”

With his win safely claimed, the man is taking time to figure out his next steps.

“I’m going to stick with my job and not rush into anything. But looking after my family and buying some property is high on my list.

“It’s only a good thing if you do good things with it after all!”

$1 million wins in July 2023: