Office lotto pool buying mistake leads to $1 million jackpot

Nov. 8 (UPI) -- An office lottery pool in Michigan said a mistake by their designated buyer ended up winning them a $1 million Mega Millions jackpot.

The "Bus Busters" lottery club, employees of SoundOff Commercial Vehicle Solutions in Hudsonville, told Michigan Lottery officials they decided to play the Mega Millions and Powerball drawings when both jackpots were high.

"When the Mega Millions and Powerball jackpots got high, our boss told us to take up a collection for tickets and he'd match whatever we came up with," club member David Lantzy said. "The minimum buy-in for the pool was $1 and all but three people joined in. When it was all said and done we had $212 and planned to buy a 50/50 mix of Mega Millions and Powerball tickets."

Lantzy said the woman who was supposed to buy the tickets for both drawings mistakenly spent all of the money on the Oct. 23 Mega Millions drawing.

"People were a little uneasy that we didn't have any Powerball tickets because both jackpots were so big," Lantzy said. "Of course in the end, it all worked out."

The club's very last ticket, which would not have been purchased had half of the funds gone to Powerball, ending up matching the five white balls in the drawing, 05-28-62-65-70, earning the pool a $1 million jackpot.

"We agreed in advance that no matter how much each person contributed, we'd split anything we won equally," Lantzy said. "Everyone's plans for the money are a little different, but I know a lot of folks are looking forward to sharing with family, paying for college tuition, and I wouldn't be surprised to see some new cars in the parking lot at work."

Each of the 21 pool members will receive about $47,600 before required tax withholdings.