Power Cut Can't Stop 3 NZ Lotto Winners From $333K Each

Three lottery players in New Zealand are celebrating life-changing wins tonight, even though a power cut meant they had to wait a little longer than usual to learn their fortunes.

A power outage at TVNZ studios on Saturday night forced Lotto officials to pull the plug on their live broadcast. Host Sonia Gray briefly appeared at 8:05pm to explain the situation, promising the draw would happen at 8:25pm instead.

But when 8:25pm rolled around, the power still hadn't returned. Rather than leave players in limbo, Lotto NZ activated their backup plan: conducting the draw off-air using a random number generator under the watchful eye of the Audit Office, a Parliament body that ensures public organizations operate fairly.

The system worked perfectly. By late Saturday evening, results were published showing three winning tickets from Mount Maunganui, Kāpiti Coast, and Central Otago. Each winner took home $333,333.

The Bright Side

What could have been a frustrating night turned into a powerful demonstration of transparency in action. Lotto NZ didn't scramble or panic when the lights went out. They simply activated established procedures they'd used before during the COVID-19 pandemic and the 2019 Sky City Convention Centre fire.

"We're sorry we were unable to bring our customers the live draw tonight," said Will Hine, Lotto NZ Head of corporate communications. "Fortunately, we have established and secure processes that allow us to run the draw off-air using a random number generator under the scrutiny of the Audit Office."

The winners themselves showed remarkable patience. The Mount Maunganui winner purchased their ticket at Bayfair Lotto, while the other two bought theirs online through MyLotto.

Meanwhile, a Wellington Strike player also had reason to celebrate, winning $200,000 with Strike Four. Powerball rolled over to Wednesday night, where the jackpot will reach $7 million.

The small power cut affected only a handful of properties in Auckland's CBD near the TVNZ studios. Vector is investigating the cause, but the outage's impact was minimal thanks to smart backup planning.

This draw comes just ten days after Lotto NZ handed out its biggest prize of 2026: $28.6 million to a single Ashburton player who'd been using the same numbers for years.

Sometimes the best systems are the ones you never notice until something goes wrong, and they work exactly as planned.