LANSING, April 11, 2002 – Persistence paid off for Geraldine Jasinski of Fowlerville, who has been playing the Big Game since it started. She matched five numbers in the April 5 drawing to win a $150,000 prize! The winning numbers for that drawing were: 8, 21, 35, 47, 50 and the Big Money Ball number was 15.

The winning "easy pick" ticket was purchased at Countryway, 7999 Mason Road, in Fowlerville.

"My husband, Frank, checked the winning numbers in the newspaper, and when we saw that we had matched five, we took it to the retailer to find out what our ticket was worth," Jasinski said. "The retailer wasn’t sure, so we called the Lottery to find out—I have been excited and nervous all weekend since I found out the ticket was worth $150,000!"

The lucky 68-year-old homemaker is also a retiree from Midland Steel. She said she kept the ticket locked in a china cabinet before turning it in at Lottery headquarters in Lansing. She added that she and her husband weren’t worried about anything happening to the ticket, since they have two "watchdogs—a Yorkshire terrier and a mutt." Jasinski said she plans to pay bills with her newfound fortune!

"Don’t give up," Jasinski encourages other Lottery players. "I always wondered whether I would win, and my husband said that I couldn’t win if I didn’t buy a ticket!"

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 7,000 Michigan Lottery retailers statewide.

Big Game drawings are conducted every Tuesday and Friday at 11 p.m. The next Big Game drawing is Friday, April 12, with an expected jackpot of $220 million—the second largest Big Game jackpot ever!

# # #