With a whopping $26.8 million up for grabs in Lotto, the country has descended into dreams of fast cars and yachts, igniting a race to get the winning ticket ahead of this weekend's draw.



New Zealand Lotteries spokeswoman Karen Jones said this week's ticket sales were looking to "double, compared to an average week", however she said she could not provide exact figures on sales until after the draw.



This Saturday's draw has jackpotted to New Zealand's third-largest Powerball prize of $25 million, along with $1 million in first division prizes and $800,000 in Strike.



Jones said the current rate of ticket sales meant that if the prize was not won this weekend, it would most likely jackpot to a $30 million "must be won" draw the following weekend.



But before that happened, there were a few possible ways to increase a persons chances of winning, Jones said.



Buying the ticket from one of the luckiest Powerball stores in the land could help, although unfortunately all but one were in Auckland.



Figures released by the Lotteries Commission showed Countdown Lynfield, Manukau City Lotto, Mairangi Bay Dairy and Lotto, Camera and Printz Westgate in Waitakere, Dawson Superette in Otara, and Countdown in Rotorua had sold the most winning Powerball tickets.



Countdown Lynfield and Manukau City Lotto had each had three winners and both given away more than $13 million each in prizes.



The ticket for the largest-ever Powerball prize, however, was sold to a pig hunter at Papakura Mobil, where he walked away with more than $28.7 million.



If people were astrologically inclined, Jones said the stars also seemed to shine on those who were Taurus.



In a survey carried out by the commission, out of 104 Lotto First Division winners, Taurus was the luckiest star sign, with 13 per cent of winners born under this sign, followed closely by Librans on 11 per cent, and Capricorns on 10 per cent. Unfortunately, Arians and Cancers lucked out, representing only 4 per cent of the big prize winners.



Jones said that might be money well spent, as "Taureans may also have the most fun spending their new-found riches, with their reported love of the good things in life."



"They are also acknowledged for their shrewdness with money and investment," she said.



She did say however, all was not lost for those with the more unlucky star signs, "as 8 per cent of our winners surveyed believed that star signs were a lot of bull".



The largest Lotto prize ever awarded was a Big Wednesday prize, won by a Masterton family syndicate in 2009. They took home $36.1 million.



LOTTO FACTS

* The odds for winning Powerball First Division are one in 38,383,800 per line played. This gives odds of 1 in 3,838,380 for a 10-line Power Dip ticket.



* There have been 91 Powerball winners since its first draw on 17 February 2001.



* About one third of all Lotto players chose their own numbers with the rest preferring a lucky dip option, and about a third of prizes won were won by those who choose their own.



* Since 2006, Wairarapa has been the luckiest NZ region, with winners taking more than $75m in prize money.



Luckiest Powerball stores in New Zealand:



* Countdown Lynfield, Auckland - Three winning tickets - $13,599,213 in total prize money awarded.



* Manukau City Lotto, Auckland - Three winning tickets - $13,338,713.



* Mairangi Bay Dairy and Lotto, Auckland - Two winning tickets - $9,548,375.



* Camera and Printz Westgate, Waitakere, Auckland - Two winning tickets - $15,500,000.



* Dawson Superette, South Auckland - Two winning tickets - $8,000,000



* Countdown Rotorua - Two winning tickets - $18,132,434.



First division winners by star sign:



* Taurus - 13 per cent



* Libra - 11 per cent



* Capricorn - 10 per cent



* Aquarius - 9 per cent



* Virgo - 9 per cent



* Pisces - 9 per cent



* Leo - 8 per cent



* Gemini - 8 per cent



* Sagittarius - 6 per cent



* Scorpio - 5 per cent



* Cancer - 4 per cent



* Aries - 4 per cent



* People who didn't respond or believe in astrology - 8 per cent.