The syndicate consists of four friends who are regular Lotto players, and have been playing as a syndicate since October 1996.
The group has been friends for 30 years, and for the past 14 they have played two tickets with the same chosen numbers, with each ticket accidently having one Lotto line exactly the same as the other ticket.
“We’ve known about the mistake in our coupons since we started playing Lotto together, but didn’t bother changing it as we’ve had good luck before with our tickets,” says one of the syndicate winners.
The syndicate has had previous success with their tickets in 2005 when they won a share of Second Division.
The winning tickets were purchased at Whitcoulls Cashel Street in Christchurch and Woolworths Kensington in Whangarei.
“We were over the moon when we found out about our win on Sunday morning, ” says a syndicate member. “I bought the tickets when I was in Christchurch for a holiday, Whangarei for work, but we all live in Kawakawa.”
The group of friends plan on spending their winnings together on a trip to Hong Kong for the Bledisloe Cup to support New Zealand.
“Next time we play, we’re thinking of buying a Combo ticket with the same mistake in it!” laughs a syndicate member.
