10-Member Lottery Club Wins $1 Million Mega Millions Prize

Third time was the charm for a group of emergency room nurses, a secretary, and a doctor who won $1 million playing Mega Millions.

“I noticed the Mega Millions jackpot was getting pretty high, and I suggested to a co-worker that we should start a pool,” said the MCM ER Nurses lottery club representative, Nikki Wildey. “She handed me $10 and said: ‘I’m in!’

“I went around to everyone else, and there ended up being 10 of us who wanted to play. It was the third time we’d all played together.”

One of the 50 Mega Millions tickets purchased by the club matched the five white balls drawn on Oct. 23 – 05-28-62-65-70 – to win a $1 million prize. The club bought its winning ticket at Ric’s Food Center, located at 705 South Mission Street in Mount Pleasant. The members of the club work at McLaren Central Michigan in Mount Pleasant.

“The morning after the drawing, I started getting texts asking where I bought the tickets at because people were seeing that a $1 million winner was sold at Ric’s in Mount Pleasant,” said Wildey. “I went to Ric’s to scan the ticket, and there was a TV station there doing a story about the winning ticket. They filmed me scanning the ticket and saw that it was a $1 million winner!”

The club members visited Lottery headquarters Friday to claim the big prize. Each member received $100,000 before tax withholdings.

“Everyone was really excited to win,” said Wildey. “People who play in groups always seem to win, and we’ve got a great group so maybe we’ll be back to claim the jackpot some day!”

Mega Millions drawings take place each Tuesday and Friday evening. Each Mega Millions play is only $2. For an additional $1 per play, players have the opportunity to add a “Megaplier” that can multiply non-jackpot prizes by up to five times.

Mega Millions tickets for tonight’s drawing may be purchased online at MichiganLottery.com and at the Lottery’s 11,000 retailers around the state until 10:45 p.m.