Tonight's Powerball draw is the last of its kind — and Lotto NZ has made it a $10 million Must Be Won event to send the old game off with a bang.
The draw, held this Saturday September 12, is the final one under the current 10-ball format. From Sunday, tickets go on sale for a revamped 14-ball game with a fresh starting jackpot of $5 million, and the first draw under the new rules follows on Wednesday September 16.
Lotto NZ chief innovation and product officer Ben Coney says the decision to boost the jackpot was deliberate. "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," Coney said. "With a big prize pool up for grabs, we expect plenty of Kiwis will want to get in on the action."
Must Be Won means exactly what it sounds like — the $10 million will go somewhere tonight, even if nobody cracks the top division. If no ticket matches Powerball Division 1, the prize cascades down to the next division where winners exist and gets split among them.
History suggests that's more likely than not. "We've previously held 13 Must Be Won draws and in eight of those cases the jackpot has been split among multiple winners," Coney said.
Anyone planning to check their ticket online tonight should know there's a catch. Lotto NZ needs to take MyLotto offline after the draw to complete the technical switchover to the new game. "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," Coney said.
The workaround is low-tech but effective. "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," he said. The results page will still be live after the draw, so anyone who writes their numbers down can at least check whether they've won — they just won't be able to log in to verify a ticket directly.
"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 we get ready for the updated Powerball game," Coney said.
The shutdown timeline is tight. Instant Kiwi Online games close at 6.30pm tonight. MyLotto and Lotto retail counters stop selling tickets at 7.30pm. Sales resume Sunday morning when the new 14-ball game opens for business.
For anyone who still writes their numbers on a scrap of paper every week — tonight, at least, you're ahead of the game.