Redundant Thursday. Lotto winner Saturday.
A Dunedin man's luck changed last weekend when he won $361,557 in Lotto Strike, two days after losing his job.
The man, who wishes to remain anonymous, said "given how much I was wishing that I could win Lotto, I could not actually believe that I had the right numbers".
"The win changes everything for us.
"I really enjoyed ringing the bank and arranging to have our mortgage paid off, and I can now take a bit longer to look around for a new job."
The couple would also make a donation to a couple of their favourite charities.
He and his wife were out on Saturday night but checked the results online when they got home.
"My wife started crying and kept saying that it could not be real, and that I must be checking the wrong numbers."
They could not sleep and his wife kept reminding him of the Lotto advertisement where the man lost the winning ticket, so he made sure it was in a safe place.
He had decided that after being made redundant last Thursday and worried about paying his mortgage, the ticket, which he bought at Pak'n Save in South Dunedin, would be his last.
"So, I said to the Lotto operator, this is the last time I will be buying a Lotto ticket, so please make sure you give me the winning one."
He had been back to the supermarket to thank the person who sold him the ticket.
"She was so happy that my dream came true," he said.
A New Zealand Lotteries spokeswoman said the ticket shared the $700,000 prize pool with one sold at Bishopdale, in Christchurch.
That winner had not yet come forward.
Strike had not been won for about four weeks, so the prize pool was larger than usual, she said.
Lotto tickets sold in Kaiapoi and North Shore City, which each won $500,000, have not yet been presented.
In tomorrow's draw, Lotto Powerball has jackpotted and will be worth $20 million.
