Ticket sellers feel 'really blessed'

Supplied

WHO COULD IT BE NOW? Maureen and Allan Taute, owners of the shop that sold the winning Big Wednesday Lotto ticket.

As Kiwis speculate on who won the $36million jackpot, the owners of the Masterton shop that sold the winning ticket left their own ticket in their shop unchecked.

Allan and Maureen Taute, from Kuripuni Take Note Lotto and Post Shop, were celebrating an "unbelievable night" as they toasted the country's biggest Lotto winner. Their shop also sold last night's only division two winning ticket, worth $696,795.

The pair bought a ticket for the draw but left it at their shop last night. "I will check it in the morning or whenever. It would be funny if it was the winning one," Mrs Taute said.

She was "absolutely shocked" that their store had sold the winning ticket and hopes it will be claimed by a local.

"I feel really blessed to sell it, they are so lucky. This is an amazing feeling - imagine how the winner feels."

It is the third winning first division ticket the shop has sold in the past three months. The most recent was a $500,000 prize 12 days ago.

"We get a lot of people who never check their ticket and just hand it over for us to check."

If that happened, Mrs Taute already knows the drill.

"I don't show a reaction. I know that sounds silly, but I just get them to follow me out the back and then I tell them and get them to fill out a form.

"If I say 'Whoopee' when I check the ticket, the whole of Masterton will know. It's important I do my job."

Mr Taute said he hoped the money would go to someone deserving.

"We have had hard times and know what that is like, so I really hope it goes to a deserving local. We are just so excited."

The couple arrived in New Zealand about eight years ago after being kicked out of their home in Zimbabwe, losing everything they had worked for. "It was bloody tough, hard times, and that's why I hope the money goes to someone deserving."

The couple are also pleased their luck appears to have turned, after the shop was robbed by a masked gunman on Monday. The man, wearing a hoodie with a bandanna across his face, passed a note to a shop assistant and said he had a gun. He escaped with an unknown amount of cash.

"It's nice that our luck has changed," Mr Taute said.

- © Fairfax NZ News