LANSING, February 6, 2001 – John Taylor of Ortonville said he believed he was in the right place at the right time when he recently purchased his lucky Big Game ticket!

“I hardly every buy Lottery tickets, but I heard other customers in the store talking about how big the Big Game jackpot was and decided I would buy a couple of tickets,” Taylor said.

That split-second decision won the lucky Ortonville man a $150,000 Big Game prize! Taylor said he could hardly believe his eyes when he looked at his Big Game ticket and saw he had matched the first five numbers in the January 23 drawing to win the $150,000 Big Game prize. That day’s winning numbers were: 6, 7, 12, 23, 43 and the Big Money Ball number was 27.

“I saw the winning numbers on the WXYZ-TV 7 news,” Taylor said.  “I then double-checked the winning numbers on the Lottery’s Web site (www.state.mi.us/milottery). I didn’t know how much I had won at first, but all of that information was on the Lottery’s Web site as well. When I learned I had won $150,000 I was thrilled! This is just fantastic!”

The winner purchased the winning Big Game “easy pick” ticket at 7-Eleven #15116, 3461 Airport Road, in Waterford.

Prior to turning the winning ticket in at Lottery headquarters in Lansing, the 43-year-old winner said he kept it in his wallet at all times to ensure its safety. Taylor, who enjoys hunting and golfing in his free time, said he plans to donate part of his winnings to the Waterford Lions Club to support the leader dog program and use the rest to make home improvements, buy a new boat and make investments.

The Big Game is a multistate lottery game in Michigan, Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Virginia. Wagers cost $1 each and tickets may 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), February 6 with an expected jackpot of $7 million.

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