LANSING, October 15, 2002 – The Michigan Lottery conducted its first-ever Change Play drawing on Monday (October 14) night and announced today that six lucky players won $31,750 in cash prizes!

"Players across the state are very excited about this new game," said Acting Michigan Lottery Commissioner James Kipp. "Based upon the results of last night’s inaugural drawing, Change Play is going to be a very popular game with Michigan Lottery players!"

On October 13, 2002, Change Play tickets went on sale at Lottery retailers statewide. Change Play, a revolutionary new idea in the lottery industry, allows players to use loose change from any purchase to buy a chance to win thousands of dollars with six guaranteed winners each day! For any amount between 25 cents and 99 cents, players can buy Change Play tickets, which are computer-generated, "easy pick" tickets so there are no bet slips to fill out. Six winning tickets are randomly selected in a computerized drawing that picks from all of the unique wagers placed that day.

The following are the winning numbers, ticket costs, prize amounts and names of the retailers where winning tickets were sold for each winning Change Play combination in the Monday, October 15 drawing:

Walid Hami of Sterling Heights – the winner of the $12,375 Change Play prize in Monday night’s drawing – claimed his winnings earlier today at the Lottery’s regional office in Sterling Heights.

"I checked my ticket shortly after the drawing and was excited to see I had won such a great prize," Hami said.

The 38-year-old winner, a self-employed business owner, said he hid the winning ticket in a safe place in his home before turning it in to the Lottery. Hami said he does not yet have any special plans for his winnings.

"This was a great debut for Change Play," said Kipp. "We hope Lottery players statewide who have not yet tried the new game will see the great prizes being awarded and give it a try!"

Because Change Play drawings are conducted just after 9:00 p.m. each day, the winning combinations are not announced during the Lottery’s regular televised drawings. Instead, the winning combinations can be found on your local television and radio newscasts, in your local newspaper, via the Lottery’s toll-free Lottery Link hotline (1-800-822-8888) or on the Lottery Web site at http://www.michigan.gov/lottery.

Since it was created in 1972, the Michigan Lottery has returned more than $10.5 billion to the state School Aid Fund which supports K-12 public education in the state of Michigan.

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