Michigan Lottery: 21-member club wins $1M Mega Millions prize

Each club member will receive about $47,600 before taxes

LANSING, Mich. – A lottery club of 21 co-workers is planning an unforgettable office party after winning $1 million from the Michigan Lottery playing Mega Millions.

“When the Mega Millions and Powerball jackpots got high, our boss told us to take up a collection for tickets and he’d match whatever we came up with,” said the Bus Busters lottery club representative, David Lantzy. “The minimum buy-in for the pool was $1 and all but three people joined in. When it was all said and done we had $212 and planned to buy a 50/50 mix of Mega Millions and Powerball tickets.”

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The next day the woman who volunteered to buy the tickets came to work with bad news: she’d bought all Mega Millions tickets and not a mix of Mega Millions and Powerball tickets. The Mega Millions jackpot for Oct. 23 was $1.537 billion and the Powerball jackpot for Oct. 24 was $620 million.

“People were a little uneasy that we didn’t have any Powerball tickets because both jackpots were so big,” said Lantzy. “Of course in the end, it all worked out.”

The last Mega Millions ticket 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 Bricks, located at 862 44th Street Southwest in Grandville. The members of the club work for SoundOff Commercial Vehicle Solutions, located in Hudsonville.

“We agreed in advance that no matter how much each person contributed, we’d split anything we won equally,” said Lantzy. “Everyone’s plans for the money are a little different, but I know a lot of folks are looking forward to sharing with family, paying for college tuition, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see some new cars in the parking lot at work.”

Each club member will receive about $47,600 before tax withholdings.

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.