LANSING, November 6, 1998 – The members of a Sterling Heights lottery club recently had a big day, as they were the winners of a top Michigan Lottery prize.
The STMA Lottery Club matched the first five numbers drawn in the October 23 Big Game drawing, collecting the game’s $150,000 prize. That day’s winning numbers were 13, 20, 27, 28, 33 and the Big Money Ball number was 20.
The Club members are all related – four brothers and their mother – and include:
- Ed Elias, 36, of Sterling Heights
- Mike Elias, 39, of Sterling Heights
- Steve Elias, 43, of Sterling Heights
- Tom Elias, 41, of Sterling Heights
- Vicki Elias, 62, of Troy
"I got a printout of the winning numbers from the store where we bought the ticket and checked it against our numbers," Mike Elias, the club representative, said. "When I saw that we had five of the six numbers I started shaking! I called the others to tell them we had won and they were all shocked and excited!"
The club members plan to use their winnings to take a vacation to Hawaii together and invest the rest of the money. The winning "easy pick" ticket was purchased at Sterling Palace, 2791 E. 14 Mile Road, in Sterling Heights.
Mike Elias offered the following advice to other Lottery players: "Never give up and play the easy pick!"
The Big Game offers nine ways to win cash prizes. Players pay $1 for each play, and choose five numbers from 1 to 50, as well as one additional number from 1 to 25.
Tonight’s (November 6) Big Game jackpot is estimated at $16 million.
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