mega millions

Two big jackpots stoking lottery fever in Michigan

Steve Carmody — Thu, 16 May 2013 19:11:00 +0000

Michigan lottery players are dreaming of winning two huge jackpots these days.

More than 700 million dollars is on the line in this weekend’s Powerball and Mega Millions drawings.

Andi Brancato is the spokeswoman for the Michigan Lottery. She says the two big jackpots are pushing lottery ticket sales.

“Maybe you have regular Mega Millions players who think ‘Gee, maybe I’ll get a Powerball ticket as well’,” says Brancato, “and vice versa with the Powerball players.”

Win the lottery, lose your privacy?

The Associated Press — Sat, 22 Sep 2012 09:07:03 +0000

LANSING, Mich. (AP) - Multistate lottery winners in Michigan could remain anonymous under a measure being considered by the Michigan Senate.

The bill would prohibit the disclosure unless the winner agrees to it in writing. Lottery officials are authorized to disclose a multistate game winner's identity.

Sterling Heights Republican and bill sponsor Tory Rocca says winners should be allowed keep their privacy, particularly for their own safety.

Lottery officials say few states require anonymity and identifying winners is important to show people win prizes.

Buying a chance to win a half billion dollars

Steve Carmody — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 15:23:17 +0000

Michigan lottery players have a chance to win the largest lotto prize in U.S. History.

The Mega Millions lottery jackpot on Friday night will be $500 million. That’s about a hundred million dollars more than the previous U.S. lottery record.

“We do expect with this kind of a jackpot probably lines at many retailers, particularly Friday after work, you know as people are driving home they stop to pick up their ticket," says Andi Brancato, a spokeswoman for the Michigan Lottery, "This is virgin territory."

What are the odds? Michigan store sells five winning Mega Millions lottery tickets

Steve Carmody — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 19:50:37 +0000

Five winning tickets in Tuesday’s Mega Millions lottery drawing were purchased at a Meijer store in Northville.

The five tickets matched five of the six numbers drawn and they are worth a quarter million dollars each.

Michigan Lottery spokeswoman Andi Brancato admits one store selling so many winning tickets is unusual.

“There are a lot of things that can sometimes seem like they’re impossible to happen. But we are talking about elements of chance that are what make up a lottery game," says Brancato.

Brancato says it’s possible that one person bought all five tickets.

“We have had players who’ve purchased multiple tickets, for the same drawing, with the same numbers in the past," says Brancato, "We need to have a ‘red flag’. We need to have a reason to conduct an investigation. Certainly if there was a problem, or we even thought that there was a problem, we would take a look at it.”

Since no one matched all six Mega Millions numbers in Tuesday’s drawing, Friday’s jackpot will be worth 290 million dollars.

Feeling Lucky? Mega Millions jackpot grows

The Associated Press — Sat, 10 Mar 2012 19:45:57 +0000

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — The Mega Millions jackpot has risen to an estimated $171 million for the next drawing in the multistate lottery game.

The grand prize amount rolled over because no player matched all the winning numbers to take the $148 million jackpot up for grabs Friday night. Mega Millions will be played again on Tuesday.

Many Michiganders are betting on a 'green' Christmas this year

Steve Carmody — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 06:01:01 +0000

Shopping malls won’t be the only retailers doing brisk business this weekend.

The Mega Millions and Powerball lotteries have a combined jackpot of about $300 million.

Andi Brancato is the Michigan Lottery’s spokeswoman. She says big jackpots usually draw in people who don’t normally buy lottery tickets. And Brancato says that’s good news to Michigan’s eleven thousand lottery retailers.