LOTTERY SPIRIT HIGH, FROM $340M JACKPOT TO 47 PLAYERS WHO’VE WON $10,000 OR MORE IN JUST 2 WEEKS (DETAILS. . .)

NASHVILLE – In addition to the thrill surrounding an unprecedented Powerball jackpot of $340 million for Wednesday night’s drawing, the Tennessee Lottery reports a variety of exciting news this month. The latest includes:

Forty-seven winners of $10,000 or more in just the first 15 days of October. Details include:

*One player who won $1 million in Powerball by matching 5 of 5 white balls correctly and using the Power Play option to multiply her $200,000 by five
*Two Powerball winners of $200,000 each; one of $50,000; one of $40,000; and one of $30,000. (The latter three winners are those who won at the $10,000 prize level but purchased Power Play and multiplied their winnings.)
*27 players who have won $10,000 each from instant ticket games or Powerball
*Four Lotto 5 jackpot winners, including jackpots of $559,257; $251,800 (2 players won and split the jackpot for $125,900 each); and $44,926
*Three instant-winners of $100,000 each from the “Corvette Cash,” “Royal Riches,” and $100,000 Vegas Winfall” games
*Four winners of $50,000 each from the instant-ticket game “Jumbo Bucks”
*One winner of $30,000 from the instant game, “Struck By Luck,” one winner of $27,000 from the instant game, “Sizzling 7’s,” and one winner of $25,000 from the instant game, “Winning Pairs”
*The Lottery also guarantees three winners in its upcoming Millionaire Live! event set for Saturday, Oct. 22 in Memphis—one of $1 million, one of $25,000 and one of $10,000.

In addition to the winners, the Lottery reports record-breaking Powerball sales. Powerball sales for the week ending October 15, which included Saturday’s drawing for a $300 million jackpot, were $11.5 million. Sales for all games for this past week were $26.1 million. The previous weekly sales record for Powerball was $7,523,514, set in May 2004.

And finally, the Lottery made its quarterly transfer to the state’s Lottery for Education Account on Oct. 15, increasing the total raised since inception for education to more than $415 million.

“While it’s a truly thrilling time for players, by far our contribution to education is the Lottery’s most outstanding achievement,” said Rebecca Paul, CEO and President of the Tennessee Lottery.

The Tennessee Lottery began selling its first tickets on January 20, 2004. As of Sept. 30, 2005, the Lottery had raised more than $415 million to fund specific education programs, including college scholarships, pre-kindergarten and after-school programs. For more information, please visit www.tnlottery.com. For information about Lottery-funded scholarships, visit www.collegepaystn.com.