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A syndicate of seven co-workers and two spouses
from Arizona won a half-share of the $94.1 million
Powerball jackpot on Wednesday 1 November. The
"Arizona 9" are now celebrating their
$47,050,000 fortune - a win that marks the 25th
anniversary of the Arizona Lottery in great
style.
Powerball is played in 29 states in the US
as well as in the U.S. Virgin Islands and the
District of Columbia. Players are required to
pick 5 main numbers from 55 and 1 Powerball
from 42, and draws take place twice a week on
Wednesdays and Saturdays.
The tickets were purchased by Tanya Poirier,
who brought the concept of having a lottery
syndicate to the architectural firm where she
now works from her previous job. The syndicate
have been playing for just over a year, but
they don't play every single draw. Instead,
they wait until the jackpot reaches $100 million
or so. Or at least, they had done so until they
decided to play for the $94.1 million jackpot.
"We're tickled pink that we played early
this year," Tanya commented.
The massive win was discovered when a co-worker
found the winning numbers on the internet and
printed them out to give to Tanya. Tanya checked
the numbers, then checked again, and finally
informed the other syndicate members that they
had won the top prize. But winning the Powerball
is a big deal, and nobody really felt truly
convinced that they had actually landed the
jackpot until the syndicated had the win confirmed
by lottery officials.
Arizona Lottery officials were themselves very
pleased with the fact that the Powerball jackpot
had been won by one of their own. Art Macias,
Executive Director at the Arizona Lottery, said:
"The last time we had a jackpot winner
was in December 2004 and, although we have had
68 second-place winning tickets since then,
we think we're due for another big jackpot.
And this being our 25th Anniversary, the timing
couldn't be better for these winners and the
Arizona communities!"
The winning ticket that catapulted members
of the Arizona 9 to millionaire status was purchased
from a "7-Eleven" convenience store
in Phoenix, Arizona. The owner of the store
was presented with a cheque for $25,000 as a
bonus reward for selling the jackpot-winning
ticket.
8 November 2006
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