NZ Lotteries spokesman Todd McLeay has informed a Davenport Keno player has won two $500,000 prizes, which makes him Keno’s biggest-ever single prizewinner. The punter purchased a multi-draw ticket, which matched all 10 winning numbers in Draw 4850.

The top prize for matching ten numbers is $500,000. However, thanks to a lucky mistake, the player’s winnings were doubled. “The player bought a multi-draw ticket at my store, as he does every week,” Grant Hayward of Hayward Paper Plus explained. “But the next day, he forgot that he had already bought the ticket and went into Davenport New World and purchased another multi-draw ticket with the same numbers.”

The winner has asked for his name not to be revealed but Lottery authorities have said he is really happy about becoming Keno’s first millionaire. “We're delighted for the player and it just goes to show you that the only way to win is to buy a ticket; or maybe two,” Grant Hayward said.

Two $500,000 Keno prizes have been previously won in Keno’s history. The first one in Palmerstone North in 1995 and the second one in Kaitaia in 2005.