Syndicate Scoops $61.5 Million
Last Updated: Tuesday 4th March 2014, 13:21
A syndicate of 22 individuals who work or previously worked for a business in Bardstown, Kentucky are celebrating after winning a Powerball jackpot worth $61.5 million. The employees of Nukote International, a company that provides imaging supplies to businesses around the world, each contributed $1 per week to the lottery syndicate, and have done so for nine years.
Traditionally, the syndicate leader would photocopy the lottery tickets for the week and hand them out to members, but several members recently left the company, so numbers were e-mailed to these members instead. It was a member who received her numbers by e-mail that first discovered the win.
"When I got up this morning, I heard the news on TV that the winning Powerball ticket had been sold in Bardstown," said syndicate member Connie Mattingly. "I logged on to my computer, saw the e-mail with our numbers, and the very first line matched the winners!"
The Powerball lottery is played in 29 states, the District of Columbia and in the US Virgin Islands. Players are required to select 5 main white balls from 1 to 55 and 1 red Powerball from 1 to 42. The top prize goes to the player who matches all five main balls and the Powerball too.
Syndicate member Mike Willett, who lives in Bardstown, explained why the $61.5 million Powerball win came at just the right time. "There are a couple of folks who were laid off from their jobs this summer after working for the company for thirty years," he said. "However, they paid into the Powerball pool in order to stay in through the end of the year. It looks like things just got a lot easier for them."
Powerball winners have the option to take a cash lump sum or to receive a larger total amount in annual instalments. The $61.5 million jackpot won by the Nukote International syndicate is worth approximately $28.5 million should it choose the cash lump sum option. Of course, the actual figure that the syndicate would receive would be lower than this because Powerball prizes are taxable under US law.