PHILADELPHIA GROUP CLAIMS $100,000 POWERBALL® PRIZE

DOVER, DE -A group of five family members and friends from the Philadelphia, Pa., area claimed a March 2, 2002, $100,000 POWERBALL® prize this morning at the Delaware Lottery Office in Dover. The winners, who wish to remain anonymous, split their $100,000 prize equally, and each received $14,006 after taxes.

The group, who has been playing POWERBALL® together for years, purchased their POWERBALL® ticket at TJ's Food Mart on Marsh Road in Wilmington. Their winning Quick Pick ticket matched five of six winning numbers.

"We found out we won when we checked the winning numbers for the drawing on delottery.com," the spokesman for the group explained. "We were shocked. We've won small prize amounts playing, but never this much."

When asked if the winners plan to continue playing Delaware Lottery Games the spokesman said, "We bought our POWERBALL® ticket for the next drawing on our way here."

The POWERBALL® jackpot for Saturday, March 16, 2002, has an estimated annuity value of $31 million. Tickets for POWERBALL® cost $1 and are available at more than 440 Delaware Lottery 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: POWERBALL®, LOTTO, Rolldown®, PLAY 3 and PLAY 4, and assorted Instant Games.