The dream of being a Lottery jackpot winner has come true for a Three Rivers woman who won a $310.5 million Powerball jackpot from the Michigan Lottery.

Julie Leach, 50, matched all of the winning numbers drawn in the Sept. 30 Powerball drawing: 21-39-40-55-59 and the Powerball, 17, to win the enormous jackpot. Leach's big win marks the third time a Michigan player has won the Powerball jackpot. The $310.5 million jackpot is the second-largest ever won in the state.

"I've played the Lottery for a long time and have dreamed of this day, but I never thought it would actually come," said Leach. "I have been in shock since I checked my ticket Thursday morning, and I don't know if it will ever wear off." Leach bought her winning ticket about 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Three Rivers West Shell gas station, located at 1223 West Michigan Avenue in Three Rivers. Three Rivers is about 30 miles south of Kalamazoo.

"My boyfriend told me I should stop and buy some Powerball tickets on my way to work because the jackpot was so huge," said Leach. "I stopped at the Shell station and bought 10 Powerball plays for $20. When I got back to my car I tossed the tickets in my console and went to work."

During her lunch break about 1 a.m., Leach was waiting for her food in a drive through lane when she remembered she had purchased tickets for the Powerball drawing.

"It seemed like it was taking forever to get my food, so I pulled out my cellphone and checked my Powerball tickets," said Leach. "First, I checked to see if I had matched the Powerball number. When I saw I had matched it, I started checking the numbers on that line one-by-one. When I saw I had matched three, I remember thinking: 'Well that's pretty cool, I won like $200.'

"When I saw that I had matched all five numbers and the Powerball, I just couldn't believe it. I must have checked and re-checked my ticket 10 times."

When Leach returned to work, she quietly asked a couple of co-workers to double check her ticket.

"Both of my co-workers thought I was playing a joke on them," said Leach. "One of my co-workers was sure it was a hoax, but after a few minutes he said 'Get the hell out of here, you're a winner!' That is exactly what I did, I clocked out for the final time of my 20-year career and went home."

Once home, she woke up her boyfriend of 36 years, Vaughn Avery, to tell him the life changing news.

"I was in a deep sleep and had actually been dreaming that we had won the Lottery with the tickets I told her to buy," said Avery. "As soon as I heard her voice I knew something was going on, but I didn't think she was going to tell me she had won Powerball."

"Vaughn couldn't believe what I was telling him," said Leach. "We sat in the living room of our house for hours laughing and crying, trying to process what was happening and how our lives had changed. We would have been pleased with $500,000 or $1 million, to win $310.5 million is unbelievable.

"About 4:30 a.m., Vaughn said he needed to get ready to go to work, and I told him he was never working again."

Next the couple shared the good news with their two children and their families.

Leach chose to receive her $310.5 million jackpot as a one-time lump sum payment of $197.4 million, rather than an annuity. After tax withholdings, she will receive about $140 million.

With her winnings, Leach plans to pay off her bills, purchase a new home for herself and Avery, as well as a new home for each of their children, and travel with her family.

"To know that we will be debt free is an incredible feeling," Leach said. "Vaughn and I have worked so hard all of our lives to provide for our family and now we can all relax and enjoy spending time together."

"It's wonderful to know that my kids will be taken care of and won't have to work like I did. They'll be able to enjoy life, and that makes me incredibly happy," she said wiping away a tear.

LINK http://www.powerball.com/powerball/winners/2015/MI_Leach_093015.shtml

How To Play Powerball

A History of Legislation

Many Washington State residents believe Washington's Lottery was approved by the Legislature with the intent that Lottery revenues be dedicated to schools or education programs solely. While this perception is understandable given the history of "Lottery Legislation" introduced in the 1970s and early 1980s, the reality is different.

Legislation creating Washington's Lottery was signed on July 16, 1982, by Governor John Spellman. When this bill (House Bill No. 1251, supporting the establishment of a lottery for Washington State) first came before the Legislature, it was a time of recession both in Washington State and, in fact, throughout much of the country. Because there was a great need for funding in many areas, the Legislature was reluctant to pass any bill that would dedicate Lottery funds solely to education. Therefore, Washington's Lottery was created to provide revenues for the State General Fund, which supports schools, human services programs, natural resources, and government programs.

The full bill can be found in Chapter 7 of Washington Laws, 1982 2nd Ex. Sess., listing [House Bill No. 1251] STATE LOTTERY, with the following timeline:

• Passed the House June 30, 1982


• Passed the Senate July 1, 1982


• Approved by the Governor July 16, 1982


• Filed in Office of Secretary of State July 16, 1982

In November 2000 voters approved Initiative Measure 728 redirecting Lottery revenue contributions from the State General Fund to the Student Achievement Fund and the Education Construction Fund. I-728 stipulates that after July 1, 2004, all Lottery revenue for education will be directed to the Education Construction Fund. The Education Construction dollars are used for the maintenance and repair of higher education institutions and to build, remodel, and renovate K-12 schools.

So why the confusion? Legislation introduced between 1973 and 1982 in either the state Senate or state House of Representatives proposed dedicating Lottery revenue to state institutions, transportation, the common schools, special levy relief, and city and county government.

A 1973 Lottery proposal introduced in the Washington State Legislature would have used the money to improve state institutions for the mentally ill and developmentally disabled.

One 1974 measure allocated 40 percent of the revenue to the General Fund either for aid to education or state institutions. A 1974 bill approved by the Legislature, but vetoed by the Governor, required that Lottery revenue be used for special levy relief.

In 1975, the state Senate narrowly defeated one Lottery bill but approved another that proposed asking voters to decide on a Lottery. The measure died in the House of Representatives.

A 1978 Lottery bill, the proceeds from which would support city and county government, died in committee. An initiative filed in 1978 called for the creation of a state agency to operate a state lottery and casinos. The sponsor claimed half of the money would go to education. Signatures were never submitted to the Secretary of State's office.

A 1979 Lottery bill allocating 40 percent of the revenue to local governments died in the House. A 1981 bill, part of a "tax equity" package, would have given the state's share to the common schools.

In March 1982, a House committee approved a bill giving lottery money to the common schools. The bill expired in the Senate.

Legislation creating Washington's Lottery was approved by the House on June 30, 1982, during a special session called to deal with a projected $253 million budget deficit. The bill required that the State General Fund receive the state's share of the revenue.

Measures to dedicate the state's share of Lottery revenue to the common schools were introduced but not approved during several Legislative Sessions throughout the 1990s. On Tuesday, November 7, 2000, Washington voters approved I-728, also known and cited as the K-12 2000 Student Achievement Act, which redirected Lottery revenue contributions from the State General Fund to education funds beginning July 1, 2001.

On April 3, 2002, Governor Gary Locke signed legislation which allowed Washington's Lottery to join the multistate lottery Mega Millions effective June 2002. Profit from all Lottery games must benefit education up to the level of $102 million annually. Once the $102 million contribution level for education has been reached, any additional net revenues from Mega Millions will benefit the General Fund while other Lottery games continue to benefit education.   From July 1, 2004 to July 1, 2009, all Lottery net revenues allocated for education were sent to the Education Construction Fund to help build, renovate and remodel schools throughout Washington State.

In 2009, the state experienced one of the most challenging and difficult legislative sessions forcing the Governor and the Legislature to make tough decisions to fill a $9 billion state budget gap.  One of these decisions was to redirect Lottery dollars for education as well as economic development contributions to the General Fund to support a wide range of important state programs, including education.  On July 1, 2009, Lottery funds were redirected from the Education Construction Fund to the General Fund for the 2009-11 biennium. Also in 2009 the Legislature approved the sale of the multi-state game Powerball to the lineup of Washington's Lottery products.

While the Education Construction Fund has been Lottery’s largest beneficiary, Lottery has been directed by the Legislature to make small, but important contributions to stadium funding and problem gambling prevention and treatment.

The 2010 Legislative session marked an exciting change at Washington’s Lottery with the passage of Senate Bill 6409. The new law, prime sponsored by Sen. Jim Kastama, directs Lottery dollars into a new education pathways account to help fund higher education programs. Beginning July 2010, more than $100 million annually in Lottery proceeds will be dedicated to the Opportunity Pathways Account helping to fund access grants, state work study awards, and two merit scholarship programs. Additionally, funds from the account may be used to support early learning programs.

Along with the Opportunity Pathways Account, Lottery proceeds will continue to contribute to stadium debt reduction for Safeco Field and Qwest Field and Exhibition Center as well as support problem gambling prevention and treatment. The Education Construction Fund will continue to be funded by other sources.

LINK http://www.walottery.com/AboutUs/History/default.aspx

The lottery is a common game with numbers. Based on lucky guesses and winning odds, lotto games are a source of dreams and hopes all around the world. Any time one jackpots reaches a certain height, people rush in to buy lotto tickets online or offline, making plans of what they with do with the potentially won money. When trying to make up a top 10 of the best lotteries in the entire world, the first difficulty comes with choosing the criteria. Should it be about the prizes? Should it be about the winning odds? Well, we decided to go with the first option and here are the top 10 lottery games distributing huge prizes on a regular basis:

1. US Mega Millions

Obviously, the American lotteries will come right on top as their prizes are huge, especially when talking about the Mega Millions and Powerball – the US lotto two giants. Mega Millions’ name should sound familiar even if you are not a lotto fan as this game has just distributed the 2nd largest prizes in the lottery’s history – $648 million, won on two tickets. Moreover, the world record is written under the same name and it stands at an amazing $656 million height, being won on three tickets in March 2012.

2. US Powerball

What makes the second largest American lottery so special? Its strength? It’s dynamism? Its prizes? The answer is all of them. When US Powerball changed the rules of the game back in January 2012, this game got even better than it used to be: its initial jackpot was doubled, the guess range got smaller, and the Power Play became a fixed multiplier able to double the Powerball’s 2nd prize to $2 million. After a crazy year 2013, when Powerball has been making the headlines with regular 9 digit prizes on display and a record-breaking $590.5 million jackpot prize in May, this American’s lottery’s officials promise some more changes in January 2014.

3. EuroMillions

An undisputed leader of all European lotto games, EuroMillions is a multinational game that reunites lottery organizations from different countries (Austria, Belgium, France, Ireland, Luxembourg, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, and U.K.). EuroMillions offers top prizes that can go as high as €190 million – the record the European champ has reached so far. Occasionally, the multinational lotto game organizes special draws called EuroMillions Superdraw, when the jackpot jumps to €100 million irrespective of its amount for the previous draw.

4. EuroMillions UK

Based on the classical EuroMillions lottery game, the UK version adds even more excitement as its draws also include a raffle. The EuroMillions UK tickets contain a code that has to match the one of the respective draw in order to be a winner. Each winning code brings £1 million to the owner of the ticket it is printed on. EuroMillions UK special draws mean extracting a number of such codes, usually 100, thus making 100 millionaires in one single night.

5. Loteria de Navidad

A lottery draw that happens once a year, Loteria de Navidad is actually a raffle. The best thing about this game is that it offers a total fund prize of €2.24 billion. Maybe this could explain its popularity! Indeed, this Spanish lottery game is so popular that it was integrated in the country’s Christmas traditions so deeply that it is a custom to buy Loteria de Navidad tickets as Christmas present.

6. Eurojackpot

The youngest European lottery, Eurojackpot is gaining more and more popularity every day. In certain countries, Eurojackpot is even more popular than EuroMillions. Moreover, EuroJackpot has more participating countries as the leading European lottery: 14 countries are reunited in the young lotto game’s draw (Croatia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, The Netherlands, Norway, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden) and this is also where its tickets are sold in lotto kiosks.

7. Powerball Australia

A champion in its home country, Powerball Australia is an easy to play lottery game based on the very well-known US Powerball format. Its jackpots cannot be compared to the ones the American lottery distributes, but nor do its winning odds. Although its top prizes got as high as AU$80 million, the chances to take an Australia Powerball jackpot home are a lot bigger than when playing against 175 million odds in the American version of the game.

8. La Primitiva Spain

The Spanish lottery La Primitiva has been gaining momentum during this year 2013. Its weekly draws that take place on Thursdays and Saturdays have been important events during this game’s peak times, when its jackpot reached record levels like €24.92 million in 2005, €26 million in 2007, €32 million in 2013 and €66.6 million in August 2013.

9. Loteria National Monthly Raffles

Spanish people like the lotteries and the Spanish National Lottery is aware of that. This is why it offers plenty of interesting games and monthly raffles that make multi-millionaires and also contribute to specific causes like the Red Cross, the National Library, etc.

10. SuperEnalotto

The Italians could not miss the top 10. Not when they have such a popular game as SuperEnalotto. Its jackpot grows slowly for months until it reaches amazing levels. The latest mega SuperEnalotto jackpot was distributed this summer and it made a total of 57 jackpot winners.

LINK http://www.wonderslist.com/top-10-best-lottery-games-world/