LANSING, April 25, 2002 – Detroit residents continue to win big with the Michigan Lottery’s Big Game!

Persistence paid off for Artelia May of Detroit, who said she has played Michigan Lottery games for the past 29 years. May purchased a Michigan Lottery Big Game ticket that matched the first five numbers drawn in the April 16 drawing to win a $150,000 prize! The winning numbers for that day’s drawing were: 7, 10, 25, 26, 27 and the Big Money Ball number was 23.

The winning ticket was purchased at New Northend Market, 21601 Coolidge Hwy., in Oak Park.

"My husband saw the winning numbers announced on WDIV-TV 4, and he woke me up to tell me what they were," May said. "I didn’t think I had won, so I went back to sleep and checked the ticket the next day. I was very surprised to see I had matched the first five numbers!"

The lucky winner said she plans to use her winnings to pay bills, and there is no doubt she and her husband will enjoy their $150,000 prize!

Beginner’s luck was with Nicole Towns of Detroit during the April 16 Big Game drawing, as she too matched the first five numbers drawn to win a $150,000 prize! Towns chose her winning number combination using birthdays and ages of family members, and she certainly chose wisely—the winning ticket was the first Michigan Lottery ticket she had ever purchased! The lucky winning ticket was sold at Jefferson Fill-Up Inc., 10550 W. Jefferson Ave., in River Rouge.

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 26, with an expected jackpot of $12 million.

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