New Zealand Lotto Exposed — Dozens of Add-ons Make Winning Easier

New Zealand Lotto Review

New Zealanders have been enjoying their lotteries ever since 1985 and today you can do the same thing. Lotto is one of the most prominent games in the country and there are several reasons why it’s popular. The fact that it allows for dozens of winning permutations is just one of its exciting characteristics.

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New Zealand Lotto: A Brief Overview

This is the original Saturday night game for the New Zealand Lottery. The oldest one in the country, it’s still incredibly popular today.

New Zealand Lotto was set up in 1987 and ever since its inception, there has been a minimum guaranteed jackpot of 1 million New Zealand dollars (approximately 713,610 US dollars). The drawings take place every Saturday at 8 pm New Zealand time.

How to Play New Zealand Lotto?

Every single line in New Zealand Lotto costs 60 cents and players should opt for a minimum of 4 lines per ticket. Thus, the price of a single ticket comes to 2.4 New Zealand dollars. There are additional options that can be activated. Dips costs between 4.8 and 12 dollars, Strike comes at 1 dollar per line and Powerball costs an additional fee of 60 cents per line.

For a chance to win the jackpot, you have to choose 6 numbers from a pool of 40.

Players who want to play Lotto, Strike, and Powerball at the same time should go for dips. The player simply has to pick a dip of preference and a computer-generated ticket with random numbers will be produced.

Let’s take a look at the additional opportunities, as well. With Strike, the main goal is to guess the first 4 Lotto numbers in the correct order. To add Strike to the ticket, you’ll obviously have to choose 4 numbers in the range from 1 to 40.

The final option is Powerball. Obviously, players are attempting to guess the correct Powerball that will be drawn each Saturday. The number comes in the range of 1 to 10. Players can go for the same Powerball number for all of the Lotto lines or they can pick different digits.

Prizes and Odds of Winning

The minimum guaranteed Lotto jackpot is 1 million New Zealand dollars. If there’s no winner for the respective drawing, the sum will roll over a maximum of 4 times. The fifth draw is the one that should select a winner. If there’s no player with a jackpot winning ticket (6 correct numbers), the sum will be split among the players that have 5 correct numbers.

The odds of winning the jackpot in New Zealand Lotto are 1 in 3,838,380.

The biggest combined Lotto and Powerball jackpot in the history of the game is 34 million New Zealand dollars. It fell on October 2016. By that time, the Lotto jackpot had reached 30 million dollars and the rest of the money came from the Powerball bonus.

A massive jackpot of 40 million dollars was also produced in 2016. A must-be-won draw took place in July. There were three winning tickets and their lucky owners went home with 13.3 million New Zealand dollars each.

Players who have 5 correct numbers and the Powerball will win a prize of about 20,000 dollars. The odds of this happening are 1 in 639,730. The third prize tier is handed to those who have 5 correct numbers and the average prize is 635 dollars. The odds are 1 in 19,386.

Four numbers and a Powerball produce a prize of 60 dollars, 4 numbers come with a prize of 33 dollars, and the lowest prize tier for 3 correct numbers and a Powerball features a prize of 24 dollars.

Now, let’s take a look at the Strike prizes.

Strike 4 comes with odds of 1 in 2,193,360. There’s a separate jackpot for Strike and it’s currently set (December 2016) at 100,000 dollars. Strike 3 comes with odds of 1 in 15,232 and the prize is 800 dollars. The prize for Strike 2 is 80 dollars and a Strike 1 will produce a free lottery line.

The average Powerball additional prize is 4 million dollars in conjunction with all of the correct Lotto numbers. Winning the Lotto jackpot and the Powerball jackpot comes with odds of 1 in 38,383,800.

Some Information for Winners

Players have 12 months from the date of the drawing to make a claim, regardless of the size of the prize that they’ve won. Prizes of up to 1,000 dollars can be claimed at any licensed retail venue.

All of the prizes, including the jackpot, are paid in the form of a cash lump sum. Players can either claim a cheque or a direct bank account deposit. Claims for bigger prizes and the jackpot have to be made at the New Zealand Lottery headquarters in Wellington.

The best aspect of winning in New Zealand is that the country doesn’t have a tax on lottery prizes. If you’re an international player, however, an income tax may apply to the money in your country of residence. You may want to check with a lawyer, in order to do the right thing when filling out your taxation papers.

Can You Buy New Zealand Lotto Tickets Online?

With so many exciting twists and turns, New Zealand Lotto is a game that’s made many players from all parts of the world curious. The good news is that all of these people can buy a ticket effortlessly.

Several online lottery agents have included New Zealand Lotto in their portfolio of games. This means that a local representative will be responsible for buying tickets on behalf of the platform’s customers.

Why You Should Play New Zealand Lotto

Pros:

An old, well-established, and reputable game organized by a national entity

Inexpensive ticket prices

The game comes with a minimum guaranteed jackpot of 1 million dollars

The jackpot will roll over if there’s no winner for the respective drawing

There are also Strike and Powerball ticket options that increase the odds of winning a prize

Because of these additional features, there are a big number of prize tiers and excellent odds of getting some cash

All prizes are paid in the form of a lump sum

There’s no income tax applied to lottery prizes in New Zealand

Some of the funds generated through ticket sales go to support charitable causes in the country

It’s very difficult to find something negative about the lottery. It comes with all of the components needed to make a great game. A few very minor shortcomings that could potentially be listed include:

Why You Should Play New Zealand Lotto

Cons:

The rules can be a little bit complicated for first-time players, especially with the Strike and Powerball add-ons

The lower prize tiers in Lotto (when Strike and Powerball aren’t activated) are not too impressive

Add-ons can contribute to an increase in the prize of the ticket

Is New Zealand Lotto Legit?

As already mentioned, the New Zealand lottery is the oldest and the most beloved game in the country. It’s run by a state entity, which excludes any opportunity for coming across a scam if you want to play.

Lotto New Zealand is a crown organization that was set up in 1986, a year prior to the launch of the flagship game. Apart from being responsible for organizing games and distributing prizes, this entity also raises and distributes funds for charity causes.

Several of the most prominent games in the portfolio of Lotto New Zealand include Bullseye, Keno, Instant Kiwi, Play 3, and Powerball. Lotto New Zealand also has a couple of scratch card games that offer instant prizes.

Some of the charitable causes that these games donate funds to include arts, sports, and community projects. Each year, Lotto New Zealand contributes over 3.6 billion dollars to such causes.

You can rest assured that Lotto gives you a good chance to win some cash and it also generates money for charities. What could be better than that?

Right now, things may seem a little bit overwhelming. New Zealand Lotto offers so much! The game itself is rather easy and straightforward, but with so many add-ons come significant possibilities for increasing the size of the amount won.

This is as far as shortcomings go. New Zealand Lotto is a lovely game and it will appeal to passionate lottery enthusiasts who like to test their luck in multiple ways. While the add-ons do increase the prize of the ticket, they also produce wonderful odds of ending up with an exciting prize. This is why we give New Zealand Lotto a thumbs up and consider it a great international lottery.