August 27, 2001

SEVEN $100,000 WINNING POWERBALL® TICKETS IN DELAWARE

DOVER, DE - Seven of the more than $12.7 million in tickets sold in Delaware for the Saturday, August 25, $295 million annuity jackpot POWERBALL® drawing had all five winning white numbers (08, 17, 22, 42 and 47), to win $100,000 each.  Two of the seven winning tickets were claimed at the Delaware Lottery Office in Dover this morning.

The first winner to claim a $100,000 POWERBALL® prize was a 52-year-old man from Ocean View, Del. He was awarded a check for $72,000, which represents his $100,000 prize minus $28,000 for federal tax.  The winner, who wishes to remain anonymous, purchased his winning Quick Pick ticket at Hickman's Package Store in Ocean View on Saturday afternoon.  "I found out we won yesterday morning when I saw the winning numbers for the drawing on the news," he explained.  "My wife and I are both very excited about our big win, we're hoping to buy a new house and pay some bills with our prize money."  The winner told Lottery Officials he and his wife play Delaware Lottery games often and plan to play the games in the future. 

A group of 54 coworkers from Newark, Del., also claimed one of the seven $100,000 POWERBALL® prizes from the August 25 drawing this morning.  A 48-year-old woman acting as spokesperson for the group said they purchased their POWERBALL® tickets in a cooperative effort last Thursday (August 23) at Newark Newsstand.  The winners, who wish to remain anonymous, are splitting the $100,000 prize evenly among the group.  Each group member will receive $1,333 after taxes. "One of the group members checked our tickets Saturday night and called all the group members to tell us we had won," the spokesperson explained.  "We were disappointed we weren't the $295 million jackpot winner, but a $100,000 prize isn't something to be unhappy about."  The woman told Lottery Officials they are not regular Lottery players, but they definitely plan to play Delaware Lottery games again.

The remaining five $100,000 POWERBALL® tickets for the August 25 drawing were sold at the following locations: 7-Eleven on Centreville Road in New Castle; Sunoco A-Plus Mini Mart in New Castle; Claymont News in Claymont; Your Neighborhood Store in Milsboro; and 7-Eleven on Memorial Drive in New Castle.  "Winners of $100,000 prizes should be sure to sign the back of their winning ticket and bring it to the Delaware Lottery Office in Dover for verification and to receive payment of the prize," said Wayne Lemons, Delaware Lottery Director.

According to Lemons, Delaware Lottery computer records for the August 25 drawing indicate that in addition to the seven $100,000 POWERBALL® winners, there were also 36 winners of $5,000; 2,922 winners of $100 (20 won $200 with Power Play®); 81,565 winners of $7 prizes (436 won $14 with Power Play®); 108,176 winners of $4 prizes (531 won $8 with Power Play®); and 173,576 winners of $3 prizes (899 won $6 with Power Play®).   

The POWERBALL® jackpot for Wednesday, August 29, 2001, has an estimated annuity value of $10 million. Tickets for POWERBALL cost $1 and are available at all Delaware Lottery On-Line Retailers.

Since the start of operations in 1975, the Delaware Lottery has contributed more than $1.1 billion to the state's General Fund to help finance needed state services that benefit everyone in Delaware. The Lottery offers a variety of games including POWERBALL^®, All Cash Lotto, Rolldown^®, PLAY 3 and PLAY 4, and assorted Instant Games.