With Lotto NZ, New Zealand offers a variety of lottery and keno games for you to choose from, such as Lotto, Keno, Powerball, and Strike. Powerball is a game that can be supplemented to, or added on to, the traditional New Zealand Lotto game. It was first introduced to the New Zealand Lottery in February 2001, with only eight Powerball numbers. Then, in October 2007, the Powerball number choices changed to 1 to 10.
Powerball costs NZD $0.80 per line. You must enter at least four Lotto lines to play Powerball.
Once you have entered to play Powerball, you choose a number between 1 and 10 for each line on your Lotto ticket. If you do not want to choose the Powerball numbers yourself, there is a Power Dip option for 8, 10, 12, or 16 lines, where numbers will be randomly generated for you.
Powerball draws happen twice a week on Wednesdays at 20.20 local time and on Saturdays at 20:00 local time.
If the winning Lotto line also has the correct Powerball number, the jackpot and prize is even larger than just winning the Lotto game.
The guaranteed minimum jackpot for Powerball is NZD $4 million.
There is no rollover cap, but the jackpot is currently capped at NZD $50 million. According to Lotto NZ, when the jackpot reaches NZD $50 million, there is a ‘Must Be Won’ draw. If no one matches six numbers plus the Powerball in the draw, then the prize rolls down the tiers.
By playing Powerball, the possible jackpot is much larger than the Lotto. Lotto has a fixed jackpot of NZD $1 million, but Powerball offers winners the chance to win 50 times that amount!
Some of the largest jackpots in Powerball history have been:
The odds of winning the Powerball jackpot are 1 in 38,383,800.
However, players can win Powerball prizes at seven different tiers, as shown below.
Prize category | Numbers Matched | Winning Odds | Winning Odds % |
1 | 6, plus Powerball | 1 in 38,383,800 | 0.000003 |
2 | 5, plus Bonus Ball, plus Powerball | 1 in 6,397,300 | 0.00002 |
3 | 5, plus Powerball | 1 in 193,858 | 0.0005 |
4 | 4, plus Bonus Ball, plus Powerball | 1 in 77,543 | 0.001 |
5 | 4, plus Powerball | 1 in 4,846 | 0.02 |
6 | 3, plus Bonus Ball, plus Powerball | 1 in 3,635 | 0.03 |
7 | 3, plus Powerball | 1 in 352 | 0.3 |
Players have up to one year to claim their prize, and prizes are paid out as lump sums only.
In New Zealand, lottery prizes are tax free. However, if you are a player from overseas, you must check local tax laws to see if you need to pay additional taxes.
You must be at least 18 years old to play Powerball in the New Zealand Lotto.
Tickets are available throughout New Zealand at authorized lottery sellers. You can also purchase tickets on the official website or on the official Lotto NZ app.
You can play Powerball overseas online via selected Lottery Agent websites.
Play Powerball today! Good luck!
