LANSING, May 21, 2002 – Michigan Lottery players are already raking in the dough with the Lottery’s new Mega Millions game! Mee-Ling Paul of Ann Arbor matched the first five numbers drawn in the inaugural Mega Millions drawing, held on May 17, 2002, to win a $175,000 prize! The winning numbers for the May 17 drawing were: 15, 18, 25, 33, 47 and the Gold Mega Ball number was 30.

The winning "easy pick" Mega Millions ticket was purchased at Super Stop, 216 W. Kipp Road, in Mason.

"I watched the Mega Millions drawing on television," Paul said. "I could only remember three numbers that were on my ticket, so I thought I had won a $7 prize. The next morning I checked the winning numbers in the newspaper to see if I had matched three numbers, and it was then that I learned I had actually matched five numbers! I didn’t tell anyone I had won, because I wanted to make absolutely sure I wasn’t dreaming!"

Paul, a faithful Michigan Lottery player for the past 25 years, was very excited to win such a large prize. "We had to scrape her off the ceiling," her husband joked.

The lucky homemaker said she has no specific plans for her winnings at this time, but said she will most likely share some of her good fortune with her four children.

The last Big Game drawing took place on Tuesday, May 14. On Wednesday, May 15, The Big Game was replaced by Mega Millions. Mega Millions is a multistate lottery game in Michigan, Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Ohio and Virginia. Wagers cost $1 each and tickets may be purchased at more than 7,000 Michigan Lottery retailers statewide.

Mega Millions drawings are conducted every Tuesday and Friday at 11 p.m. The next Mega Millions drawing is tonight, Tuesday, May 21, with a guaranteed jackpot of $10 million. For more information about Mega Millions, visit the Michigan Lottery’s Web site, www.michigan.gov/lottery.

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