Arizona 9 Win $47 Million
Last Updated: Wednesday 7th August 2013, 12:45
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.
