LANSING, March 15, 2000 — A lucky Linden man recently won the single largest Michigan Rolldown jackpot to date! The winning numbers for the March 10 drawing were: 13, 15, 19, 21 and 33.
The 49-year-old winner, who requested anonymity, was the only Michigan Lottery player to match all five winning numbers in that drawing, winning the entire $54,446 jackpot, before taxes. In total for the March 10 Rolldown drawing, there were 57,020 winners who shared $185,103 in prizes. In addition to the jackpot winner, there were 204 winners who matched four numbers for a prize of $109; 5,734 winners who matched three numbers for a prize of $10; and 51,081 winners who matched two numbers for the $1 prize.
The Linden man said he was completely surprised to learn he had won such a big jackpot!
"I heard the winning numbers on the radio at work," the winner said. "I knew right away that I had matched all five numbers because I have been playing the same numbers for a long time. I didn’t know at the time what the jackpot was, so when I took the ticket to the store to find out what I had won I was completely surprised!"
The General Motors Proving Grounds employee, who enjoys hunting and fishing in his free time, said he plans to use his winnings to make home improvements and build a new pole barn. The winning ticket was purchased at Merchants Gourmet Wine Shoppe, 3909 Owen Road, in Fenton.
Prior to turning the winning ticket in at Lottery headquarters in Lansing, the winner said he kept it in his wallet to ensure its safety.
Michigan Rolldown’s first drawing was held Monday, February 28, 2000. Drawings are conducted six days a week — Monday through Saturday — at 7:28 p.m., and the cost to play is $1 per wager. Tickets are available at the more than 6,400 Lottery retailers statewide.
The feature that makes Michigan Rolldown unique among other Michigan Lottery games is the "roll down" feature, ensuring that all of the prize money will be paid out each and every night. In the event that no player matches all five numbers drawn to win the jackpot, that prize money "rolls down" to players who match four of five numbers, giving them an even bigger win!
To play Michigan Rolldown, players select five numbers from a field of 33, or use the "easy pick" feature in which the computer terminal randomly picks five of 33 numbers. Odds to match all five numbers are 1 in 237,336, with overall odds to win a cash prize of 1 in 6.
Cash prizes are awarded for matching five, four, three and even two numbers. These top three prizes are pari-mutuel and, therefore, may vary from drawing to drawing. Pari-mutuel prizes are based on the number of tickets sold and the number of winners matching five, four and three numbers. The prize for matching two numbers is always $1.
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