Cheryl Merritt of Carleton claims $89,651 from the 12/06/2012 Club Keno “The Jack” drawing. (Photo Courtesy of the Michigan Lottery.)

Cheryl Merritt of Carleton has a special system for picking her Lottery numbers. “I keep track of the numbers so I know which numbers have been coming out a lot,” she said. Apparently Merritt’s instincts are pretty good because on December 6, she won $89,651 playing Club Keno with The Jack option!

Merritt placed her bet with a retailer and then went home to watch the drawings on her home computer. As soon as she saw her numbers come up, she shouted with joy! There was just one thing missing…her husband.

“He was at work so we couldn’t really talk, so I texted him ‘I hit the Jack,’” said Merritt! (The Jack is an optional feature of Club Keno that can be played for an extra $1 per draw.) The winner’s husband, David, was skeptical at first. But once his wife showed him a repeat of the online drawing, he knew she really had won, and quickly got used to the idea of having a nest egg .

The couple, married more than 30 years, have decided to do two things with the money: They intend to pay off the new car they bought recently and put the rest into the bank.

The winning ticket was sold at Sam & Fran’s Broadway Market located at 510 N. Monroe St. in Monroe.