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$62 Million and Counting!

20 August 2001

LANSING, Michigan – (Press Release) -- Aug. 20, 2001 -- Just how high will the Michigan Lottery's Big Game jackpot soar before some lucky player finds the winning combination? The question on the minds of Michigan Lottery players throughout the state today.

No player correctly matched all six numbers in The Big Game drawing on Friday, August 17 -- 1, 9, 16, 28, 46 and gold ball 24 -- pushing the jackpot for Tuesday, August 21 to an estimated $62 million!

``Lottery players from Detroit to Copper Harbor are all dreaming about what they could do with $62 million,'' said Acting Michigan Lottery Commissioner Jim Kipp. ``I really hope that dream comes true for some lucky players in Michigan Tuesday night!''

If one winning ticket matches all six numbers in Tuesday night's drawing and the player has chosen to receive the winnings as an annuity, before taxes it would amount to roughly:

$2.38 million per year for 26 years;

$45,857 per week; sleek

$6,551 per day!

For those who prefer to take their cash winnings up-front, it's an exceptional payday as well. If one lucky cash-option player matches all six winning numbers, he or she will take home a check for approximately $34.2 million (before taxes), the estimated present cash value of Tuesday's $62 million jackpot. (The Michigan Lottery is required by law to withhold estimated federal tax of 27.5 percent and estimated state tax of 4.2 percent, on any prize over $5,000.)

``This is obviously a lot of money we're talking about,'' said Kipp. ``But, we want to remind players that, besides the jackpot, there are lots of prizes to be won in The Big Game. Even if you don't match all six numbers, you could still win up to $150,000 on a single wager. So I want to caution everyone to check their tickets very carefully to ensure you're not throwing away a winner!''

The Big Game debuted in September 1996; since then, there have been ten lucky jackpot-winning tickets sold in Michigan. The largest to date was the $363 million jackpot in the May 9, 2000 Big Game drawing for which two jackpot-winning tickets were sold -- one in Michigan to Larry Ross of Shelby Township and one in Illinois!

In addition, 350 players have each won the $150,000 ``second prize'' for correctly matching the first five Big Game numbers drawn. There are seven other prizes to be won in The Big Game, ranging from $1 for matching only the gold ball, up to $5,000!

Wagers for The Big Game cost $1 and tickets can be purchased at more than 7,000 Michigan Lottery retailers statewide. Other participating Big Game states include Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Virginia. Odds to win the jackpot are 1 in 76,275,360; overall odds to win any cash prize are 1 in 31.

In addition to The Big Game jackpot, the Michigan Millions jackpot is also on the rise. The estimated jackpot for Wednesday, August 22, is $13 million.

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