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WORKERS BUILD POOL TO WIN BIG
March 12, 2008
OLYMPIA – “Are you in?” Ted Maus enthusiastically asks as he makes his rounds collecting $10 from his colleagues. Maus has organized a Mega Millions pool at work for years and says whenever the Jackpot gets above $100 million they buy tickets. So when the Jackpot reached $270 million for the February 22 drawing, 21 employees of Gary Merlino Construction in South Park pooled their money to purchase 221 Mega Millions tickets.
According to Maus, participants buy into the pool at $10 each – and this time, that 10 bucks paid off as the coworkers won the $250,000 second tier Mega Millions prize. Once the shock subsided, the pool of 21 winners decided to form the “R.U.N. Trust,” named in honor of Maus’ lucky query.
“We call ourselves R.U.N. Trust because I always ask my co-workers, ‘Are you in [for the next drawing]?’” Maus laughed. “We decided to claim as a trust for tax purposes, but it’s also an easier way to divide our winnings among all 21 of us.”
“I purchased the ticket from Safeway in Maple Valley and when I went back to check it, the cashier was speechless. She couldn’t get the words out so I knew we must have won big,” Maus said. “When we finally found out how much we won my wife and I couldn’t contain our excitement! I called everyone in the pool immediately!”
Once the money is divided equally, each pool member will walk away with approximately $8,000 and they all plan on spending it on something they’re passionate about.
“I’m going to take my wife to Italy for her 50th birthday,” Maus said. “Some other guys bought motorcycles and some bought parts for the bikes they already have—this is a dream come true for all of us.”
R.U.N. Trust matched five out of six numbers on its winning ticket – 19-32-33-41-48 – only missing the number 12 Mega Ball. The ticket was purchased at Safeway located at 26916 Maple Valley Highway in Maple Valley.
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