NZ Lotto – How to Play the Different Kinds of Online Lottery

Julie Bowring

Posted On:   JAN - 28 - 2020

Reading Time: 7 minutes

NZ Lotto - How to Play the Different Kinds of Online Lottery
Living in New Zealand, you have the option of playing different types of lotteries. The NZ lotto are generally held on a weekly basis and can be divided into the following categories.

NZ Lotto 6/40

The perfect place to start for beginners, this is one of the most popular lotteries in New Zealand and can be found in stores and online casinos. The 6/40 lotto was first introduced in 1987 with the first draw taking place in August the same year. The rules are simple, and you are required to pick 6 numbers from 1 – 40 with an additional bonus number drawn as well.

Each line will set you back 60 cents and a typical game of four lines will cost NZ $2.40 to play. Each Saturday you would need to tune into TV2 at 8pm for the weekly draw and you can also find yourself winning through ‘Lotto Powerball’ which is an extra number from 1- 10 that is added to the lotto line. If you are lucky enough to win the Lotto and have Powerball on the same line, then you win both the Lotto and Powerball prize combined.

NZ Lotto Dip

When playing the lotto, you have the option of picking your own numbers as most people do (a memorable date, lucky numbers etc) or you can have them randomly generated. The numbers can be randomly generated by a ticked machine called the ‘Lotto Dip’ which has 10-line requirement. The cheapest ticket you can purchase will cost you NZ $6.0 and the jackpot can stay consistent for four weeks at a time. On the fifth week, the draw enters the ‘Must Be Won’ stage with any unclaimed Division One prize rolled over the next division after which the jackpot is reset.

NZ Lotto Strike

This variation of the NZ lotto was introduced in 1993 and will appeal to those who love classic online casinos. A ‘lottery strike’ can be added to a regular lotto ticket for an extra NZ $1.0 with the goal being to match the strike numbers in order to the first 4 numbers in the lotto draw. The lotto can stay active for 10 weeks until a winner is found. The prize starts off at a minimum NZ $100,000 and keeps on increasing by that amount every week until a winner is found.

Powerball

The lottery Powerball has become a regular fixture of the NZ lotto scene and has even made its way to online casinos. Introduced in 2001, the lottery Powerball enhances the value of your regular lotto ticket by adding an additional 4 numbers to it and costs 60 cents per line. A Powerball is a number between 1 and 10 that is drawn from a separate machine than the lotto draw.

In the event that you strike lucky with lotto and also have the Powerball number on the same line then you end up winning a share of the Powerball prize pool as well. However, you are required to win the first division lotto in order to win the first division Powerball. A massive NZ $4 million can be won in the first division with another NZ $30 million on top if you end up winning the jackpot.

Winning Wheel

Introduced as a new segment to the lotto show where players were invited to spin the wheel for a chance to win various prizes. Players are selected if the serial number on their lotto ticket is drawn and are then invited to the Auckland lotto studio for the next draw to spin the wheel. The wheel is divided into 30 segments with cash prizes ranging from NZ $100,000 to $1 million.

They can also win noncash prizes such as shopping trips, cars, houses and land. You can also choose not to spin the wheel at all and can still walk away with a minimum NZ $25,000. For those that are camera shy can nominate others to appear on their behalf and spin the wheel and appear on TV.

Big Wednesday

A more recent addition to NZ lotto, Big Wednesday has odds less favourable than lotto 6/40 as you are required to guess the right numbers from 1 to 50, not 40. In addition to matching the 6 numbers, you must also take part in a coin toss and must guess the outcome of the toss correctly. You can only win by matching the 6 numbers and guessing the coin toss correctly. Each line costs NZ $1 with a minimum of 4 lines per ticket.

Big Wednesday Dip

Like the Lotto Dip, you use a machine to select numbers for you with each ticket costing $6.00 and can use the machine to select head or tails for you. You also have an option of having the same numbers across two tickets, but one heads, and one tails. This means that as long as you are able to match the numbers, you will be guaranteed to win the jackpot.

Big Wednesday Jackpot

Called the ‘Big’ jackpot for good reason, you can win up to NZ $30 million and other non-cash related prizes such as luxury cruises and cars. In order to win, you need to be able to guess correctly from a draw of 50 balls rather the usual 40 and also be able to predict the outcome of the coin toss. If there is more than one winner, then the non-cash prizes are converted to their cash value and the amount divided amongst the winners.

The Best Strategies for Playing the NZ Lotto

With so many variations to the NZ lotto, the first question that comes to mind is whether there are any strategies that can adopted to win the lotto? While there is no definite answer, players over the years have delved in certain practices that can potentially increase your chances of winning the NZ lotto.

NZ Lotto Pools: The concept here is very simple. There is strength in numbers and by creating a pool, players effectively increase their chances of sharing the jackpot. Each player buys a ticket and even if one person from within the pool is successful in hitting the jackpot then the total prize is distributed equally amongst all the members of the pool.

Hot Numbers: Call it wishful thinking but the logic here is that numbers on a losing streak have less chance of appearing as the jackpot goes on further. Any number that has lost 4 games or less account for about 50% chance of winning. This jumps up to 80% if the number has been on losing end for 10 games or more. By keeping track of the losing numbers, you are increasing your chances of winning the ultimate prize.

Cold Numbers: The opposite of a hot number, if a number has been out for more than 70 games then the likelihood of that number appearing in the next game is much higher. Once again there is no exact science behind this, and no one can say for sure when the losing streak for the number will end!
Repeat Numbers: In a 6/40 NZ lotto, one top number from the last drawing has a 60% chance of being repeated in the next draw. All you need to figure out is which number will be repeated 😊

Odd-Even Numbers: Wisdom states that you should have a balance between the amount of odd and even numbers you pick. Having an all odds and all evens draw is a rarity and the best combination is to have 2 odd and 4 even, 4 odd and 2 even, or 3 of each.

High-Low Numbers: Similar to the odd-evens concept, a draw will always a good mix of high and low numbers. It is very rare to have a draw with all high or all numbers so have a balanced approach.

Number Sums: Always add the numbers that you have picked for the draw. For over 70% of the winning combination, the sum of the numbers when added were in the 95 – 151 range.

As a disclaimer we would like to point out that participating in a draw should be fun and that even with the strategies presented above, you are NOT guaranteed a win. So, use the strategies above and then hope for the best. You can also view some the list of our top online casinos currently offering some great jackpots on a variety of games.