CAPE MAY – Five randomly chosen numbers brought good luck in the form of $50,000 to a dozen friends and co-workers who bought a ticket together in the Jan. 13 record $1.6-billion Powerball lottery.
According to Gail Wilsey Morrison, the group had bought its first ticket together the week prior to the $1.6 billion drawing. “This was our second time buying a ticket together, it was totally random,” she said. “I picked the numbers and was just one off from winning the jackpot; I picked 40 instead of 34.”
Three winning tickets of the world-record jackpot overcame staggering odds of 1 in 292.2 million to land on all the numbers: 4-8-19-27-34 and Powerball 10.
The group bought 60 tickets with the $120 collected, getting four of the five numbers plus the Powerball number. Wilsey Morrison and her sister Cookie Wilsey realized they may have been winners about 11:30 p.m. the night of the drawing, and went to their real estate office that night to check. “We started texting people about 1 a.m.,” Wilsey said, “they thought we were joking.”
Two of the group, Wilsey Morrison and Pam Barsby, drove to Trenton the next day for validation of the winning ticket. “I didn’t want a $50,000 ticket sitting around the office,” Wilsey Morrison said.
Each of the winners will receive their own check in the amount of $4,166.66 before taxes within a couple of weeks.
The ticket was the first “substantial winning ticket” purchased at West Side Market, West Cape May, according to owner Patrick Sluk, who sold the winning ticket. “We had $2,000 and $3,000 winners before, but nothing like this. It’s so cool that we had a winner and it was local people.”
Sluk said he recently learned that he will not be receiving any commission for selling the winning ticket.
“Apparently there are different tiers of winning, and the sellers of the top tier winners get a commission, but this isn’t one of them,” he added. “But that’s OK. I’m just glad that we had someone local win it and it couldn’t have happened to a nicer group of people.”
Wilsey said they bought the ticket at West Side Market because it’s one of their “favorite stores. We like shopping there.”
“We’ve seen an increase in ticket sales since it was announced that we had a winner,” Sluk said. “We’re seeing people we normally don’t see.”
Wilsey Morrison said the dozen winners will decide individually how they will spend their share. “I think some of the people are looking at sharing it with some of the non-profits in town,” she noted.
“One of my friends has a son with multiple sclerosis and is getting treatment in Mexico,” said Wilsey. “I’m planning on sending her some money to help with expenses.”
“Our mom, who’s deceased, loved playing the lottery,” the women added. “This one is for her.”
To contact Karen Knight, email kknight@cmcherald.com.
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