DENVER – One ticket, six numbers, $11 million big ones. One Lotto ticket purchased in North Denver is worth $11 million dollars after Wednesday night’s drawing. The winning numbers were 7 18 25 26 33 35. The cash value of the jackpot is $5.5 million.

The ticket was purchased at the 7-Eleven at 7270 Broadway in Denver. That store will receive a $5,000 selling bonus.

The person who holds this winning ticket should sign the back of the ticket immediately because lottery tickets are bearer instruments, meaning that whoever signs the ticket has the legal right to that ticket. The person has until April 6, 2009 to claim the prize.

If the winner chooses the annuity option, the prize will be paid out in 25 installments. The first payment would be 2.5 percent of the jackpot share, and then increase by 3.7 percent each year after that. In these uncertain economic times, it may be nice to know the Colorado Lottery guarantees annuity payments, regardless of what happens to the institution that owns the annuity. The cash option would be paid in one lump sum. Both prizes would be subject to taxes – 25 percent Federal and 4 percent State.

At $11 million, the Lotto jackpot was the biggest won since September 11, 2002, when two lucky winners, the Davis Family Trust of Arvada, and Michael Menard of Littleton, split a $16 million jackpot. And, this was the third Lotto jackpot over $9 million won since July 2007. Hank Robinson won $9.2 million on July 14, 2007, and Gloria Aguda won $9 million on November 21, 2007.

The probability of winning the jackpot is one in 5,245,786. Lotto drawings are held twice a week, each Wednesday and Saturday, in Pueblo. The winning numbers are selected using an automated drawing machine, which randomly generates the winning numbers.