LANSING, June 2, 1997 – The 12 members of the brand-new "Lucky Dozen" Lottery Club in Flint have no doubt good fortune was on their side May 28.
The club held the only ticket to match all six numbers in the Michigan Lotto drawing worth $16 million – and they didn’t even have to pay for the ticket! It was a free "Smartplay" ticket that held the key to the club’s windfall – a bonus "easy pick" ticket awarded to any player who purchases a $5 five-wager ticket for a Michigan Lotto drawing.
"Smartplay" is an ongoing Michigan Lottery promotion. The "Lucky Dozen" Lottery Club’s win marks the third time in just over a year that a "Smartplay" ticket has won a Michigan Lotto jackpot. Earlier "Smartplay" winners include a $6.2 million jackpot won on May 25, 1996, and a $11.5 million jackpot won on July 17, 1996.
Club members, who requested anonymity, said they believe it was more than "Smartplay" luck that won.
"The week before this Lotto drawing, we were in a larger lottery pool," said one member. "Twelve of us decided to reinvest our own winnings into the Lotto drawing pool, and when the others didn’t want to, we formed our own smaller club. We’ve only played together as the ‘Lucky Dozen’ for one week!"
"I think we were just in the right place at the right time," said another member. "A chain of different events brought us all together at this particular time, and I guess we were just supposed to win!"
Members of the "Lucky Dozen" are all employed at the Buick Division I plant in Flint. When the first club members learned they were big winners, they had to retrieve the ticket from work and tried to contact the remaining members.
Several of the club members were in Lansing this morning to collect their first installment of $800,000, before taxes, which will be followed by 19 additional annual installments.
The club members range in age from 43 to 57 and the majority (seven) are single.
Club members’ plans for their winnings include sharing with family members; planning for children’s education; making home improvements; looking for new winter homes in warmer locales; and, said one smiling member, "buying some toys, starting with a new Jacuzzi!"
The winning Smartplay "easy pick" Lotto ticket was purchased at Parkway Food Store, 7495 N. State Road, in Davison.
The winning numbers in the May 28 drawing were: 2, 25, 40, 46, 47 and 48. Wednesday’s (June 4) Michigan Lotto jackpot is estimated at $2.1 million, and Friday’s (June 6) Big Game jackpot is estimated at $12 million.
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