TRENTON (Oct. 31, 2017) – Gerard D. of Paramus plays Jersey Cash 5 with his family daily. On occasion, he will buy a Mega Millions or Powerball ticket. He decided to get in the Mega Millions game for the Friday, May 26 drawing. Saturday morning, after the draw, he went to the local deli to pick up coffee and get the draw results. Once he got back to his car and checked the numbers, he realized he had a $1,000,000 winning ticket. He was elated!

Gerard quickly went home to his family and called them into the kitchen. They joyous celebration began. When asked what he will do with the winnings, Gerard said they will pay off some bills. This win gives Gerard and his family a lot of comfort and financial stability as they look towards their retirement. Their lucky ticket was purchased at Deli Mart, 789 Main St., Hackensack in Bergen County.

Mitchell Ross of Chester in Morris County is a member of the Chester Area Professional Club, a business networking group. For more than twenty years, a handful of the members have been participating in a weekly Lottery pool. Practicing smart group play, they wrote up rules for collecting money each week; determining what would happen if someone missed a drawing; and ensuring that participants had a copy of the group ticket.

Every Wednesday the group meets at a diner for breakfast while they talk shop. After which, the thirteen-member group, and the diner waitress of twenty years, contribute money to purchase a Powerball ticket for that evening's draw. Mitchell typically manages the pool and holds onto the ticket, but while away on vacation, another group member took on the responsibility. When he returned from vacation he was thrilled to discover that the ticket was a $1,000,000 winner. No one else in the group bothered to check the numbers from the Wednesday, July 12 drawing. Mitchell contacted the gentleman who was holding onto the ticket to share the news. Now he was on vacation and the ticket was sitting on his desk at work. Not wanting to leave a million dollar ticket unattended for two weeks, Mitchell got permission to swing through his office and pick it up. Mitchell, twelve other members of the Chester Area Professional Club Lottery Pool, and one very happy waitress will be sharing the prize equally. The ticket was purchased at Country Farms, 378 Springfield Ave., in Berkeley Heights.