Dad and son can’t believe how much they won playing Powerball. ‘Quit pulling our legs’

A father and son who formed an official lottery club together are celebrating a big Powerball win.

Gary Mallet and his son, Tim Mallet, bought a Powerball ticket for the Aug. 26 drawing, according to a Sept. 13 news release from the Michigan Lottery. The ticket had numbers 20-22-26-28-63 with a Powerball of 5.

“We checked our ticket the morning after the drawing and didn’t recognize the message we got on the ticket checker,” Gary Mallet told lottery officials. “We asked the clerk to scan the ticket and she used the Lottery’s app to find out how much we’d won.

“She scanned the ticket and then dropped her phone and said: ‘You won $150,000!’” he continued.

The G & T Players lottery club had matched four of the white balls and the Powerball during the evening drawing, officials said. But because they added the Power Play option, their prize was multiplied by three.

“We couldn’t believe it and told her to ‘Quit pulling our legs!’” club representative and dad Gary Mallet told lottery officials.

He and his son plan to use their winnings to pay bills, do some home improvements and save, according to the release.

In Michigan, groups of at least two people can form a lottery club that goes in on tickets together.

“If the club wins a prize, it is divided among the club members,” according to the Michigan Lottery. “It is up to the lottery club to determine its rules of operation, including the distribution of prize money to members.”

This story was originally published September 13, 2023 at 7:47 AM with the headline "Dad and son can’t believe how much they won playing Powerball. ‘Quit pulling our legs’."