Disastrous mistake by lottery pool club buyer turned out to be a Mega Millions miracle $1 million jackpot win
Some of the Bus Busters lottery syndicate with their $1 million Mega Millions check they received yesterday. PHOTO: Michigan State Lottery
What could have been a disaster turned out to be the luckiest move for the Bus Busters lottery club. The woman who volunteered to buy the mix of Mega Millions and Powerball tickets for the draw had accidently messed up.
She had bought only Mega Millions tickets in error. The Mega Millions jackpot for Oct. 23 was $1.537 billion and the Powerball jackpot for Oct. 24 was $620 million.
All 21 members of the Bus Busters lottery syndicate crowd together with their $1 million Mega Millions check. PHOTO: Michigan State Lottery
“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.”
“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 winning ticket
“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.”
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 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.
The club bought its winning ticket at Bricks, located at 862 44th Street Southwest in Grandville.
ABOUT MEGA MILLIONS: 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.