LANSING, April 15, 1999 – Chris Ridgell of Southfield didn’t win the $197 million Big Game jackpot, but he won the next best thing!  Ridgell matched the first five numbers in the April 6 drawing to win the $150,000 prize.  That day’s winning numbers were: 12, 17, 22, 33, 44 and the Big Money Ball number was 25.

"I saw the winning numbers in the newspaper," Ridgell said.  "I checked what I thought were all of my tickets for that drawing and determined that I didn’t have any winners.  Later I heard there was a store in my neighborhood that had sold a $150,000 winning ticket, and I thought to myself ‘I am probably the guy who hasn’t claimed the prize!’  Later that night I remembered that I had three other tickets I hadn’t yet checked, and sure enough one of them was the $150,000 winner!"

The Southfield man, who lifts weights and plays basketball in his spare time, said he has been playing Michigan Lottery games for the past 20 years.

Ridgell, 38, purchased the winning Big Game "easy pick" ticket at D&D Town & Country Market, 16261 W. 12 Mile Road, in Southfield.  The lucky winner said he plans to use his winnings toward the purchase of a new home.

The credit manager at Chrysler Financial offered the following advice to other Lottery hopefuls: "If you want to win you’ve got to play!"

The Big Game is a six-state lottery game which held its first drawing in September 1996.  Lotteries in Michigan, Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts and Virginia contribute to the joint prize pool.  Big Game drawings are conducted every Tuesday and Friday at 11 p.m.  The next Big Game drawing will be conducted Friday, April 16 – the expected jackpot is $10 million.

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