LANSING, May 7, 1999 – The three members of a Leslie lottery club are celebrating in a big way – they are recent winners of a top Michigan Lottery prize!
The "DWD Lottery Club" matched the first five numbers drawn in the May 4 Big Game drawing, collecting the game’s $150,000 prize. That day’s winning numbers were: 5, 20, 32, 42, 46 and the Big Money Ball number was 26.
Club members, who work together at the Michigan National Guard post in Grand Ledge, include:
- Joseph DeForest of Hanover
- Craig Denney of Leslie
- Robert Whittaker of Jackson
The club members range from 29 to 46 years of age and are a mixture of married and single individuals.
"Our club originally started with seven members but a lot of them quit because we hadn’t won anything yet," Craig Denney, the club representative, said. "I stopped to get a winning number report at the store on my way into work the day after the drawing. Once I got to work I checked my tickets right away. I about had a heart attack when I saw we had matched five numbers!"
The winning Big Game "easy pick" ticket was purchased at Saginaw 96 Amoco, 8205 W. Saginaw Hwy., in Lansing. Prior to turning the winning ticket in at Lottery headquarters in Lansing, Denney kept it in his pocket to ensure its safety.
The club members, who have been playing together for just over a year, said they plan to use their winnings to pay bills. The club members also offered the following advice to other Lottery hopefuls: "Keep playing – it will eventually pay off!"
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 tonight, May 7 – the expected jackpot is $33 million.
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