Lottery news from http://www.raleighchronicle.com/
RALEIGH - According to the NC Lottery Commission, eight concrete truck drivers visited the North Carolina lottery headquarters on Tuesday to claim their $600,000 Powerball prize. The eight men, who work for S & W Ready Mix in Goldsboro, matched the winning numbers from the June 14th drawing.
The lottery says that the group picked all five of the white balls, but not the Powerball, and they used the Power Play feature which increased their winnings from $200,000 to $600,000.
They had waited for a member of the group to return from a vacation before they came to Raleigh to collect their prize.
"I just knew these boys were yanking my chain when I came into work that day and they said we had won," said Neil Dickerson of Goldsboro, one of the winners in a released statement. "I just didn't believe them at first because I didn't write the numbers down."
Drivers Played As A Pool
This group told the lottery commission that they had been playing the lottery together for about six months in other states. They started playing in North Carolina as soon as the lottery was started in the state in March.
"We always use the Quick Pick feature," said Allan Walters of Goldsboro, another one of the winners in the group. "And now that we know about Power Play, that's really the only way to do it. We're hoping to win it again. We do the pool on Wednesdays and on Saturdays we are on our own."
Walters said his company has other offices in eastern North Carolina. "Every office has its own pool now," he said. "They are popping up everywhere."
Before leaving the Lottery's headquarters, all of the men purchased Powerball tickets for Wednesday's drawing and said to the lottery, "We'll be back." There was no word on whether the eight men won anything in Wednesday's lottery drawing or not.
The concrete truck drivers' winning ticket was purchased at a Friendly Mart on Highway 111 in Goldsboro, just down the road from S & W.
According to the lottery commission, all of the winners all had different plans for their prize including one who said he plans to purchase a horse; another said he hoped to buy a Harley Davidson motorcycle and another one even said he would like to get a race car.
Still others said they had less ambitious plans including paying church tithes, making home improvements, and paying bills with their prize money. The prize for each player was worth $51,000 after taxes, said lottery officials.
The lottery released the other names of the winners in the group including Robby Price of Seven Springs, Gerald Williams of Goldsboro, Larry Jones of Beulaville, Anthony McAllister of LaGrange, Gregory Grady of Seven Springs, and James Farland of Albertson.
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