LANSING, February 4, 2010 – Lottery players won big in Michigan’s first POWERBALL drawing. In total, 27,891 players won $165,404 in last night’s drawing, with prizes ranging from $3 to $20,000!
One player matched four white balls and the Powerball to win $10,000, while SuQuana Washington matched the same but also purchased the Powerplay, which came up as 2X. That extra dollar spent on the multiplier earned her $20,000!
The 20-year old from Detroit purchased the winning easy-pick ticket at the Greenfield Party Shoppe, 22883 Greenfield Rd., in Southfield.
POWERBALL ticket went on sale in Michigan on Sunday. Sales for the first drawing reached a staggering $1,125,021!
With no jackpot winning tickets sold in last night’s POWERBALL drawing, the jackpot has rolled to $140 million. If a player wins Saturday night’s $140 million POWERBALL jackpot and chooses the annuity payment option, he or she will receive payments over 30 years.
If a winner prefers the prize in one payment, the estimated lump sum cash value of the jackpot is $68.6 million, less taxes.
Players can purchase POWERBALL tickets up to 9:45 p.m. on Saturday for the drawing. Tickets purchased after that time will be eligible for the Wednesday drawing.
For just $1 per wager, POWERBALL offers players a chance to win millions of dollars. In addition to the jackpot prize, there are eight different ways to win cash prizes and with the Power Play option, players could see their non-jackpot winnings multiplied. Jackpots will start at a guaranteed $20 million and increase as sales increase. Drawings are conducted at 10:59 p.m. Wednesday and Saturday.
To play, players will pick five numbers from 1 to 59, and 1 red POWERBALL number from 1 to 39. Like other Michigan Lottery games, players have the option to choose their own numbers or request the computer generate “easy pick” numbers. Players can purchase Powerball tickets for up to 60 consecutive drawings and play up to 10 panels per wager.
For an additional $1 per play, players can also select a multiplier, Power Play, which could increase their winnings on non-jackpot prizes, up to 5 times the original amount. A Power Play number of 2, 3, 4 or 5 is drawn for each POWERBALL drawing. If a player purchases the Power Play option and 5 is drawn as the Power Play number, a $3 win in Powerball would be multiplied to a $15 win.
POWERBALL features nine different ways to win. Matching just the red Powerball wins $3; one white ball plus the red Powerball wins $4; two white balls plus the red Powerball wins $7; three white balls wins $7; three white balls plus the red Powerball wins $100; four white balls wins $100; four white balls plus the red Powerball wins $10,000; five white balls wins $200,000; and five white balls plus the red Powerball wins the jackpot prize.
Following the Wednesday and Saturday drawings, POWERBALL winning numbers are posted on the Lottery’s Web site, www.michigan.gov/lottery. Players can also view the drawings on broadcast stations across the state : Lansing (WLAJ-TV), Marquette/Escanaba (WJMN-TV) on tape delay, Muskegon (WMXG-TV), or online at the Powerball Web site, www.powerball.com.
Since POWERBALL’s inception on February 10, 1988, and Mega Millions’ inception on August 31, 1996, the games have generated an astonishing $17.6 billion for good causes, such as education, senior programs, local towns and the environment. With two large multi-state games, participating jurisdictions are expected to generate substantially more money for these good causes; in Michigan’s case, the state School Aid Fund.
Over 98.5 cents of every dollar spent on Michigan Lottery tickets is returned to the state in the form of contributions to the state School Aid Fund, prizes to players and commissions to retailers. In fiscal year 2009, the contribution to schools was $724.5 million. Since its inception in 1972, the Lottery has contributed more than $15 billion to education in Michigan.
For additional information on POWERBALL and other games, please visit the Lottery’s Web site at https://www.michiganlottery.com/.
# # #
