LANSING, April 24, 2000 – Just how high will the Michigan Lottery’s Big Game jackpot soar before some lucky player finds the winning combination?
That’s the question on the minds of Michigan Lottery players throughout the state today. No player correctly matched all six numbers in The Big Game drawing on Friday, April 21 – 14, 15, 34, 42, 44 and gold ball 8 – pushing the jackpot for Tuesday, April 25 to an estimated $80 million!
"Not only has spring fever taken hold of the state this week; Big Game jackpot fever has set in as well," said Michigan Lottery Commissioner Don Gilmer. "Lottery players from Detroit to Copper Harbor are all dreaming about what they could do with $80 million. I really hope that dream comes true for some lucky players in Michigan Tuesday night!"
If one winning ticket matches all six numbers in Tuesday night’s drawing and the player has chosen to receive the winnings as an annuity, before taxes it would amount to roughly:
$3.07 million per year for 26 years;
$59,171 per week; or
$8,453 per day!
"This is obviously a lot of money we’re talking about," said Gilmer. "But, we want to remind players that, besides the jackpot, there are lots of prizes to be won in The Big Game. Even if you don’t match all six numbers, you could still win up to $150,000 on a single wager. So I want to caution everyone to check their tickets very carefully to ensure you’re not throwing away a winner!"
The Big Game debuted in September 1996; since then, there have been seven lucky jackpot-winning tickets sold here in Michigan. The largest to date was in the January 24, 1997 Big Game drawing in which the "Friends Forever" lottery club of Jackson split a $45.6 million windfall!
In addition, 238 players have each won the $150,000 "second prize" for correctly matching the first five Big Game numbers drawn. There are seven other prizes to be won in The Big Game, ranging from $1 for matching only the gold ball, up to $5,000!
Wagers for The Big Game cost $1 and tickets can be purchased at more than 6,400 Michigan Lottery retailers statewide. Other participating Big Game states include Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Virginia. Odds to win the jackpot are 1 in 76,275,360; overall odds to win any cash prize are 1 in 31.
In addition to The Big Game jackpot, the Michigan Lotto jackpot is also on the rise. The estimated jackpot for Wednesday, April 26, is $6.4 million.
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NOTE TO EDITORS AND NEWS DIRECTORS:
Lottery Commissioner Don Gilmer is available for interviews. Please contact Sarah Lapshan at (517) 335-5648 to make arrangements.
