LANSING, January 25, 2000 — Faridah Huller of Plymouth jumped up and down with glee after learning she had won a top prize in the Michigan Lottery’s Big Game! She matched the first five numbers in the January 15 Big Game drawing to win the $150,000 prize. That day’s winning numbers were: 13, 15, 29, 34, 41 and the Big Money Ball number was 23.

“My husband checked the winning numbers on the Lottery’s Web site (www.state.mi.us/milottery),” the winner said. “He came to visit me at my office under the pretense that I had forgotten to bring my thermos of coffee to work with me. When he handed me the thermos he said, ‘Oh, by the way, we won a few dollars on the Lottery.’ When I asked him how much, he showed me the ticket. I was so excited that I started jumping up and down!”

When not spending time with her cats, designing Web sites or working on art projects, the Plymouth woman said she enjoys playing Michigan Lottery games. She said she has been playing them for the past three years, and her favorites are Michigan Lotto, the instant games and, of course, The Big Game.

Huller purchased the winning Big Game “easy pick” ticket at Meijer Inc. #54, 20401 Haggerty Road, in Northville. Meijer #54 has been a particularly lucky store for Lottery players over the past three years — a total of four top prize-winning tickets ($100,000 and over) have been sold there.

“We sell a lot of Lottery tickets here, so the word must be getting around that we sell winners,”

Scott Dempsey, Meijer #54 store director, said. “I think it is great that someone else who bought a ticket from our store won! I congratulate the winner and encourage her to come back for more tickets. You never know when lady luck will strike again!”

Prior to turning the winning ticket in at Lottery headquarters in Lansing, Huller kept it in her wallet at all times to ensure its safety. The lucky lady said she and her husband plan to use the winnings to purchase a new home.

Huller believes anyone can win Lottery games, and she offered the following words of encouragement to other Lottery hopefuls: “Just keep at it — don’t give up hope!”

The Big Game is a multistate lottery game in Michigan, Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Virginia. Wagers cost $1 each and tickets can be purchased at more than 6,400 Michigan Lottery retailers statewide.

Big Game drawings are conducted every Tuesday and Friday at 11 p.m. The next Big Game drawing is tonight (Tuesday), January 25, with an expected jackpot of $23 million.

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