Group of participants swells from a dozen to about 25 after third-tier win
A $50,000 Powerball win by a group of people who work at the same place in Harford County resulted in extra money for the participants and a doubling of interest in joining the office Lottery jackpot pool.
Each time a jackpot for Powerball or Mega Millions gets up to about $200 million, the office pool group starts playing. They collect $5 from each participant to buy tickets for the next drawing. For the the June 29 drawing, the jackpot was at $366.7 million and 12 people were part of the office pool. While a player in Vermont won the jackpot, the Powerball pack scored a $50,000 third-tier win.
After that, “everyone wants to be in,” according to a member of the office pool who visited Maryland Lottery headquarters on July 8 to claim the prize for the group. “It’s up to about 25.”
Although the Powerball jackpot fell far below the office’s “Let’s play!” threshold after the win in Vermont, the Mega Millions has continued to increase. Indeed, as the Harford County group claim was being processed on July 8, the Mega Millions jackpot increased from $400 million to $410 million for the July 8 drawing.
The jackpot pool member sent to claim the winnings is something of an unofficial leader of the group, and is more enthusiastic about Lottery play than some of his colleagues.
“I play all the time,” he said, noting that others in his group only play when the jackpot is large and he is collecting money for the pool.
As for the winnings, split 12 ways the $50,000 prize goes from being a fairly substantial sum to “just a little extra cash,” the group coordinator said. Still, a little extra cash is always nice to have, he noted.
The group’s winning ticket was purchased at High’s #086 at 3711 Federal Hill Road in Jarrettsville.
