September 26, 2005 Source: University of Toronto:
http://www.news.utoronto.ca/bin6/050926-1669.asp Engineering staff hit jackpot Departmental 6/49 lottery pool cashes in on $1.75 million winnings
Sep 26/05
by Karen Kelly (about) (email) Last Monday was anything but ordinary for Professor Douglas Reeve, chair of chemical engineering and applied chemistry. "I heard someone screaming in the
office next to mine," he recalled. "No, actually, it was squealing. Then I heard two people, then five people squealing." Reeve decided to investigate and discovered something that could surely erase any Monday blues. He and 12 other members of the department had won the 6/49 lottery by matching six numbers — a total of $1.75 million, $134,668.69 each to be exact. "It's a wonderful shot in the arm and particularly stunning because it's for such a large group of people," Reeve said of the win. "It's simply marvelous." The group had actually won the money on Wednesday, Sept. 14, but only checked the numbers on the following Monday, Sept. 19. "Normally I do check the numbers after the draw," said Arlene Fillatre, the department's business officer and organizer of the lottery pool. "But I came home late that night and didn't check them in the morning." The team's winning strategy is simple. "I let the machines do the work," Arlene said. "We each chip in two dollars a week and play $13 dollars on Wednesday and $13 on Saturday." Although Fillatre won a quarter of a million in 1992, the entire group has only won smaller amounts since it began 10 years ago and those winnings have been reinvested in lottery tickets. This time, however, many people in the group plan to pay off their mortgages or invest their winnings. One thing is certain: this winning team isn't going to rest on its laurels. "I've already bought tonight's ticket," Fillatre said.
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