It's a big weekend for the national lottery which celebrates its 60th birthday this Sunday.
Photo: RNZ
The Saturday draw keeps New Zealanders on the edge of their seats, ticket clutched tight, hands shaking as the numbers are read out.
The first national lottery was the Golden Kiwi Draw on December 12, 1961.
All 250,000 tickets sold within 24 hours, as people rushed to try their chance at the £12,000 top prize.
The winning numbers would be published in the paper after the draw, adding to the anticipation.
Yet Golden Kiwi's shine proved no match for the live television draw of Lotto, which first aired 34 years ago on August 1, 1987.
Presented by Ann Wilson and Doug Harvey, the draw has been named one of New Zealand's most memorable TV moments.
The live draw continues to run today, with a second Wednesday draw introduced in 2005.
Golden Kiwi poster (New Zealand Lotteries Commission) Photo: New Zealand Lotteries Commission
But weekly draws are just part of what the national lottery does.
Lotto NZ spokesperson Lucy Fullarton said while 55 cents of every dollar spent goes back to the players, a significant amount also goes into the community.
"Over the past 34 years, there has been $5.2 billion in Lotto New Zealand funding given to the community by the Lottery New Zealand Grants Board," she said.
"Twenty-three cents of every dollar goes to community groups and it's essentially 100 percent of [Lotto NZ's] profits."
Lotto NZ currently gives funding to over 3,000 community organisations.
Mobility Dogs has had Lotto funding for eleven years, to train dogs that aid people with physical disabilities.
General Manager Jody Wilson says it takes about 50,000 dollars to fully train one dog.
"Lotteries are ensuring that we have the trainers to be able to train these dogs and get them out into the community. They're essential to the support of the trust," she said.
The dogs are trained to pick things up off the floor and give them to people who use wheelchairs, open and close doors and press emergency medical alarms.
The Lotto NZ money also helps fund a rehabilitation programme Mobility Dogs runs in prisons, where they teach prisoners how to train the dogs.
Wilson said "It's a win-win situation because the prisoners get to give something back to the community ... while being part of a group that's doing good."
Sport NZ, Creative NZ and the NZ Film Commission all have long-standing partnerships with the national lottery too.
Sport NZ general manager of planning, strategy and corporate, Julie Morrison, has a long list of where their lottery share goes.
"It goes to big national sporting organisations; the nation's 12 regional sports trusts; some iwi, where we direct specific money into He Oranga Poutama, a Māori activation programme; the national disability organisations; national recreational organisations and lots of other more specific community organisations," she said.
As for getting a bit of money magic for yourself, Lucy Fullarton remains tight-lipped.
"As much as I think we'd all love to know what the magic spark is, it is obviously completely random. The odds are the same no matter where you buy your ticket or whether you choose your own numbers or not," she said.
But Lucy reminded the country not to get too caught up in winning.
"It's all just a bit of fun."
