A Million Dollar Chance for Mother's Day

Mother’s Day is right around the corner. Do you know what you are getting your mother?

Over the years, your mother has probably received in excess of 30 pounds of chocolate, countless floral arrangements, and every kitchen gadget known to man. This year, why not give her something different?

The Arizona Lottery and By the Bunch Florist are giving away one Arizona Lottery Millionaire Raffle ticket to the first 50 people who place an order and say, “make it a Millionaire Mom Bouquet.” Customers can begin requesting the bouquet on Friday, May 9.

The 50 Arizona Lottery “Millionaire Mom Bouquets” are first-come, first-serve. Shoppers can either visit the flower shop on Friday or call 602-956-6711 and simply ask for the “Millionaire Mom Bouquet” to receive one free Millionaire Raffle ticket, valued at $20 and potentially worth $1 million, inserted among the flowers in their Mother’s Day bouquet.

Millionaire Raffle tickets are priced at $20. Tickets are sold in sequential order, and sales will stop once the last of the 350,000 tickets has been sold. There are more than $3.5 million in prizes in the game, including two $1 million prizes with other cash prizes ranging from $1,000 to $100,000. Prizes include five prizes of $100,000, 30 prizes of $10,000, and 700 prizes of $1,000. The drawing for Arizona’s next Millionaire Raffle is on June 11. Winning numbers will be posted on www.azmillionaireraffle.com on June 12.

Make this a Mother’s Day she’ll always remember by giving her a gift of tickets from the Arizona Lottery’s Millionaire Raffle.

Arizona Snags Eight $200,000 Powerball® Winners

Powerball mania hit Arizona from June 30 through Aug. 25, and although we didn’t sell the winning jackpot ticket, we did have eight $200,000 winners. Two of their stories are told here – both of them from the drawing of Aug. 22, 2007.

Vincente Guarino is a stock broker by trade and usually plays the Powerball as part of a pool at work. However, he also purchases Quick Pick Powerball tickets for himself and his wife separately from those at work. And is he glad he does! Vincente was watching television when the Powerball numbers rolled across the bottom of the television screen. He checked his tickets and couldn’t believe what he was looking at – five matching numbers. In fact, he was so unsure, that he didn’t even tell his wife that he thought they had a winner.

The next day, Vincente was like a Monopoly® player, only he was headed straight to the Arizona Lottery Office to redeem his ticket. He still hadn’t told his wife – he planned to tell her that night when she got home from work. He already had a few plans for his winnings – pay some bills, invest the rest, and maybe he and his wife would do something special later.

Carlos Ponce stopped at a gas station and, as he usually did, whatever cash he had left after paying for gas, was what he used to purchase his Quick Pick Powerball tickets.

A few days later, while he was at the gas station again, Carlos had the clerk scan his tickets. “The clerk thought the machine was broken.” Evidently, he’d never scanned a winning ticket where the terminal printed out a claim form. But, he gave Carlos back his ticket and the form. When he got home, Carlos went online to check the amount, and when he saw that five numbers were worth $200,000 he got excited about the win. At that point, he woke up his wife to tell her. They both still had some trouble believing it was real as they’ve only had two very small wins previously and wanted to be sure they hadn’t misread the ticket.

So far, they’ve only told family. They plan to pay off their mortgage and invest the rest. Being a self-employed retailer, Carlos doesn’t have a lot of spare time; in fact, he does a lot of his paperwork at home on the weekends. The rest of the time he spends with his family.

All of our eight $200,000 winners were all smiles when they received their checks.

Both Jackpot Winners of the Millionaire Raffle Step Forward

Waiting until after the holidays to redeem their tickets, the two winners of the Millionaire Raffle jackpots came to the Arizona Lottery Phoenix office within one day of each other.

Marie Morocco of Scottsdale claimed her $1,000,000 prize Jan. 2, 2008, and Martha (Denise) Turberville of Phoenix claimed her $1,000,000 prize Jan. 3, 2008. After taxes, each received a check for $700,000.

Marie stopped at a convenience store, happened to see the signs promoting the raffle, and made a “what the heck” purchase of two tickets. While watching the news on ABC15, Marie saw the winning numbers, looked at her tickets, and thought she was “reading the numbers wrong.” She kept using the TV remote’s pause button to compare the numbers on TV and on her tickets. Finally, she began to realize that she was one of the two $1,000,000 winners.

Marie will invest most of her winnings. However, she may consider a little bit of special shopping for herself. Working as an accountant keeps her busy, but when she does have spare time, she enjoys spending it with her family.

Our other jackpot winner, Martha (Denise) Turberville of Phoenix, saw the ad for the raffle while watching television. The next day, she went to a store to get information. She did not purchase a ticket at that time, as she wanted to think about it. Then, a few days later while shopping at a local Fry’s, she decided to purchase a ticket.

At 3:30 a.m. Dec. 31, 2007, Denise went to the Millionaire Raffle website and entered her ticket number. When she saw the message, “Congratulations, you are a winner. Please go to the Arizona Lottery office,” she thought she had “been bumped to another site and that it was an error. I was shocked…kept wandering around the house in disbelief!”

Denise, who is an engineer, plans to use her winnings to help her parents, may splurge on the purchase of a new car, and plans to invest the rest.

“I want to congratulate the 2 one million dollar winners of the Arizona Lottery’s first Millionaire Raffle,” said Art Macias, Executive Director of the Arizona Lottery. “Millionaire Raffle is the Lottery’s newest product. With only 350,000 tickets available, the game sold out in 47 days and generated $7 million in sales!”

Power Play 10X is Back!

During the month of April, Powerball's exciting promotion, Power Play 10X, is back. During the promotion, one of the four 5s on the Power Play wheel will be substituted with a 10. When the multiplier number 10 is drawn, all Power Play prizes (excluding Jackpot and Match 5 Bonus prizes) will be multiplied by 10!

Sales for Power Play 10X start Sunday, March 30th with the first 10X on the drawing wheel appearing Wednesday, April 2nd. The promotion will run for at least nine (9) draws (four weeks) or until the 10X is drawn. The 10X could be drawn up to nine times during the promotion (once for each of the nine draws). If the 10X has not been selected during the promotion period, the promotion will continue until the 10X has been selected.

So for your chance at up to ten times the winnings, don't forget to add Power Play to your Powerball purchase today!

All for One and One for All

On Jan. 14, 2008, 10 members of a pool of 11 friends came to the Arizona Lottery office to claim their winnings. They arrived with pomp and circumstance in a chauffer-driven black limousine. When the group was asked, “Why the limo?” they replied, “We always wanted to ride in one.” In addition, from the sound of their excitement, it obviously was easier and much more fun to come to the Lottery together.p>

The pool, all members of East Mesa Moose Lodge #2082, won $200,000 on the Powerball drawing of Jan. 12, 2008. “It’s exciting when we see a group of friends win one of the Lottery games,” said Art Macias, Executive Director of the Arizona Lottery. “Since Arizona joined Powerball in 1994, we have sold nine jackpot tickets and 618 second place tickets.”

This group of 11 winners has been friends for more than 15 years, but has only been playing the Lottery as a pool for a year and a half. They each put in $5 per Powerball draw. Susie Brewer, the “leader of the gang,” purchased 55 tickets. Sometime after 11 p.m. Saturday, she called the Arizona Lottery Hotline, heard the numbers, but thought it was a mistake. She had a couple of other friends check, but no one really believed it.

On Sunday morning, after rechecking the numbers several times, at 5 a.m., Susie began making calls to everyone in the group. Most of them were half-asleep – they either woke up right away or went back to sleep and then woke up later thinking they had dreamt the whole thing. Once the entire group knew they had purchased a winning ticket, everyone in their immediate world knew: friends, family, and the entire Moose Lodge.

Each pool member has a different idea as to how to use the winnings. For example, Eric Henshaw may take a trip to Virginia for a Marine Corps Reunion; Mary and “Bud” Goetz plan to pay off their car; Richard Flamini plans to just enjoy it; Paul Zehringer is going to put his winnings into his IRA; Sue Zehringer is returning to Ohio for a reunion; and Irene Jacobs plans to bring her sister to Arizona for a visit. For Johnny Walker, the one member of the pool who was not able to join his friends because of illness, this win was a highlight.

Although they are a group of friends who enjoy having a good time, they are also extremely community oriented. Through their Moose Lodge, they deliver food baskets during the Thanksgiving holiday to families who need help, raise funds for science projects for Stevenson School, and contribute to Toys for Tots. Sue Zehringer makes blankets for a hospital. Every year Glenna Shepler assumes the role of Mrs. Claus for a children’s Christmas party at the Moose Lodge and makes sure every child has a gift.

This delightful pool of winners planned to make sure the clerk who sold them the ticket was not forgotten by presenting her with a tip.

Arizona Lottery Sponsors Pack to School Drive

Round and round the wheel goes, spinning for the benefit of Arizona’s school children. Have some fun, and get a free gift, courtesy of your Arizona Lottery.

The Governor's Office has asked all state agencies to participate in the 2008 Pack to School Drive. This drive is to help insure that all school-age children start their school year with supplies that will help them succeed throughout the year. To help garner public participation, your Arizona Lottery is sponsoring a special Pack to School Drive promotion.

Bring in any new school supply to either the Phoenix or Tucson Lottery Office and receive a spin on the prize wheel. Examples of some items to bring are; notebooks, backpacks, paper, crayons, pencils, etc. Prizes on the wheel are:

We Got Your Ticket Scratchers Ticket
Sun Tan Lotion
Jotter Pad with Pen
Water Bottle
CD Case

Promotion dates and times are as follows:
Phoenix Office -- Monday, July 14, 10:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.
4740 E. University Drive
Phoenix, AZ 85034

Tucson Office – Thursday, July 17, 10:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.
4010 E. Grant Road
Tucson, AZ 85712

We look forward to seeing you at our special promotion and the children thank you in advance for your support.

Mother’s Day Gift is a Jackpot

A card is a card is a card, except when there is an Arizona Lottery ticket enclosed. Laura Merritt of Mesa received cards for Mother’s Day from all of her children, including one from her son containing a ticket for The Pick drawing of May 10, 2008. In addition, there was a card from her cat, also containing a The Pick ticket for the same drawing. Each ticket had five lines. Laura’s son purchased both tickets for his mom, enclosed one in a card signed by him and the other one in a card “signed” by her cat.

Laura said that by the time she got to the store to buy her tickets as she usually did, it was too late. So, when she opened up the cards she received for Mother’s Day and saw the two tickets, she was thrilled. A short time later, she checked her numbers in the paper, but didn’t think her tickets were worth much. Later that day when she went to the store with her daughter, she had her tickets scanned. The clerk told Laura she had a winner and showed her that one of her tickets had one line that matched all six numbers.

The clerk knew both Laura and her daughter, as they frequently shop at the store. She noticed that Laura was looking at the ticket in disbelief, so she paged Laura’s daughter to come to the customer service desk. She wanted to be sure that Laura understood the significance of having six numbers on her ticket.

Actually, Laura did understand that she had won The Pick jackpot for $1,000,000, but she just doesn’t get overly excited. Her daughter called her brother to tell him what a great Mother’s Day gift he had given their mom. By the time Laura and her daughter got home, her son had already gathered all of the paperwork she would need.

Laura chose the cash option and, after taxes, received a check for $388,888.86, which she plans to invest for future use. She enjoys traveling, spending time with her grandchildren, and playing bingo.

The Pick, Arizona’s own lottery game, is a personal favorite of Art Macias, Executive Director of the Arizona Lottery, because “just like our Scratchers, all of the monies stay in Arizona to benefit our wonderful state.”

Winners without the Jackpot

Since Arizona became part of Powerball, we have been fortunate to win the jackpot nine times. In addition, we have also had numerous third-place winners of $10,000. And if you add the Power Play option, the dollar amount soars. Below are a few stories about our many third-place or $10,000 Powerball winners.

Charles Moody always buys Quick Picks on the Powerball at the same store from the same clerk. His tickets for the drawing of Jan. 30, 2008, were no exception, unless you want to count the fact that he had a winning ticket worth $10,004. He took it to the store to be scanned, found out that it was a winning ticket, but didn’t bother going online. Therefore, he didn’t know how much he had won until he came to the Lottery office to redeem his ticket.

He plans to share his win with his wife and put a chunk away “for a rainy day.” Charles owns an air conditioning company. He is a big racing fan and spends a lot of his spare time watching NASCAR on television.

Like Charles, Ruben Reyes and Arlis Johnson also buy Quick Picks for Powerball, and both of them also had four numbers and the Powerball. Ruben first saw the numbers in the newspaper and couldn’t believe his luck. Then he decided he’d better check again. He did--about three times. Ruben was thrilled with his win, but wished “there had been one more number.” At the time of this interview, he hadn’t had a chance to tell his wife the good news.

Unlike Ruben, Arlis checks online to see if he has the winning numbers. Like the above-mentioned winners, he was thrilled with his $10,000 win, but also kept thinking, “Just one more number.” He plans to put his winnings into a college fund for his kids.

Winter resident Theo Zelaya divides her time between Michigan and Arizona. Like the other winners, she purchases Quick Picks. She used the self-scan machine at the store and then had the clerk scan it. Although the clerk thought it was a big winner, she thought it was $1,000. Theo found out the correct amount when she came to the Lottery office. She was going to call her husband, who was back in Michigan, to tell him the good news.

Shane Grim and Rene Mayer checked their winning Quick Picks online and discovered they had each won $10,000. At first, just like Ruben Reyes, neither of them believed they had winning tickets. Then, Rene decided he’d better have the Lottery office verify the ticket. He’s glad he did. The $10,000 is going to pay off bills, and the rest is going into savings.

Shane checked his ticket online and then called the hotline for verification. He also had friends come over to check the ticket to make sure he hadn’t misread the numbers. After he knew it was real, he woke up his wife to tell her the news.

Howard Frazier plays the Powerball regularly, but uses his own numbers based on important family dates. He’s been playing the same numbers for about two years. After the draw, he went online, checked his numbers and the back of the selection slip to find out the amount of his win. When he realized what he had won, he told his wife, “We won something pretty good -- $10,000.”

Howard and his wife are former dancers. Later in life, he switched to backstage jobs. In fact, for many years, he used to call the tech cues for a Las Vegas show. He currently spends his time as a loyal and regular Powerball player, taking classes in sign language, and working around the house.

Winners without the Jackpot

When most people think of Powerball winners, they usually concentrate on the jackpots that have been won. They tend to forget about the $10,000 and $200,000 winners. There are a lot of Powerball winners below the jackpot level. The amounts are quite impressive, and if you add the Power Play option to the mix, you could have the equivalent of a $1 million jackpot. Here are just a few of those non-jackpot winners’ stories:

Carol Price and Ann Collins are two individuals who always purchase Powerball Quick Picks with the Power Play option. However, they each had four white ball numbers and the Powerball number worth $10,000. But with the addition of the Power Play option, their winnings were dramatically increased. With the Power Play number being two for her drawing, Carol increased her winnings to $20,000. Ann increased hers to $30,000 as the Power Play number for her drawing was three. Both women were thrilled with their win and plan to keep on playing Powerball with, of course, the Power Play option.

Vincent Guarino also purchases Quick Picks when he buys his Powerball tickets – only this time he got an unexpected surprise. He had a ticket that had one line with five correct numbers worth $200,000. Needless to say, he checked it a few times to be sure he hadn’t made a mistake. When he came in to redeem the ticket, he hadn’t told his wife – he planned to surprise her later with something special. Even though he hadn’t purchased the Power Play option, he was very pleased with his win.

Both, Jim Imbrescia and Greg Head, purchased tickets with four correct white ball numbers and the Powerball number worth $10,000. Jim’s ticket was a Quick Pick and Greg used his own numbers that he selected after watching a television show about lottery winners. Both winners called the Arizona Lottery Hotline to check their numbers. Greg is putting his winnings in the bank, and Jim plans to pay off one his family’s cars.

Our next $10,000 winner turned out to be an office pool of ten people who have been playing together for about five years. The ticket was purchased right here at the Arizona Lottery office. The workers put a total of $20 into the pool twice a week, and if they have any small wins, they roll them over to purchase additional tickets.

After checking the tickets, Charles Eckert, the representative for the group, e-mailed the rest of the pool to tell them the good news. Most of them thought he was joking. Finally, when they checked their copies of the tickets, they realized he wasn’t kidding and the news spread throughout the office. Everyone came over to congratulate them and asked to join the pool. However, as Charles explained, they keep the pool to a maximum of ten people. He said, “It’s easier to figure out the amount due everyone with ten people.”

Charles usually purchases their tickets at the Arizona Lottery office, and he has every intention of continuing to do so.

The Arizona Lottery congratulates all its winners and looks forward to meeting many more winners in Powerball.