Ahead of tomorrow night’s $30 million Oz Lotto jackpot, division one winners have shared their advice to future lottery winners, encouraging them to take time to plan how they’ll enjoy their prize and to ensure they relish every second of it with their families.
From how division one winners chose to celebrate, to the feelings that overwhelmed them the moment they discovered the news and how they spent their prize – it’s all been revealed in The Lott’s inaugural Winners Report.
For the first time in lottery history, the Winners Report has been compiled from data collected from surveys of division one and major prize winners across all lottery games from 1 January to 31 December 2019.
Division one winners have shared the difference their prize has made to their lives, their advice to future division one winners and much more.
The Lott spokesperson Lauren Cooney said 80% of winners surveyed won up to $3 million, however winners of all division one prize ranges contributed to the findings.
“We received a strong response from Victorian and Queensland division one winners, particularly Saturday Lotto winners who made up 70% of respondents,” she said.
“We’ve learnt a lot about our division one winners through this survey such as who they shared their winning news with, unsurprisingly 70% revealed they shared their winning news with their immediate family.
“We got to hear the winning screams of delight from almost a third of winners who discovered their life-changing news through a phone call from us, followed by 20% who crossed off their lottery numbers one by one as they watched the draw with high anticipation.”
Interestingly, while many people dream about exotic travels should they one day win division one, only around half of respondents went on a holiday immediately after their windfall.
“We were surprised by this finding because so many winners tell us the first thing they are going to do when they receive their prize is head on a long-dreamt of overseas holiday,” Ms Cooney explained.
“Around 40% of winners used their prize to realise the great Australian dream of owning their own home and paid off their mortgage. For 34% of winners it was used to buy a new car.
“Some winners did tell us that they used their prize for something out of the ordinary. One player said they bought an engagement ring and staged a wedding, another revealed they shouted helicopter rides for family and friends.
“We’re curious to see how our 2020 division one winners’ responses compare to those of 2019, having won during a global pandemic.
“Maybe they haven’t been able to celebrate how they’d always imagined, or instead of exploring overseas planned to explore their own backyard, so we will be interested to see what trends arise and what differs next year.”
Oz Lotto draw 1396 offering a $30 million jackpot closes on Tuesday 17 November 2020 at 7:30pm AEST/ 8:30pm ADST.
Tickets can be purchased at any licensed lottery outlet, online from thelott.com or via The Lott mobile app.
