Lottery Awards $2,000,000 in Power Play Prizes to Two Rochester Powerball Winners

ROCHESTER, NY (12/09/2010)(readMedia)-- A store clerk and an independent contractor, both from Rochester, Monroe County, are New York's newest Powerball Power Play winners. The Lottery's Gretchen Dizer was in Rochester today to award the winners, 60-year-old Richard Garney and 45-year-old Michael Taggart, with their Power Play prizes just in time for the holidays.

Powerball Power Play Turns Independent Contractor into Rochester Rudolph

"I got so excited my nose turned red." That's how Michael Taggart, 45, described his response to winning a $1,000,000 on New York's Powerball Power Play option. The independent contractor's Rudolph-like reaction came upon seeing five of his hand-picked numbers drawn in the December 1st Powerball drawing, earning him a larger than usual second-place prize. Players who match the first five numbers in a Powerball drawing usually receive $200,000. Because Taggart paid an additional $1 to add the optional Power Play feature to his wager, his second-place prize was boosted to $1,000,000.

"I always play the same numbers, a mix of family birthdays, and just hope for the best," he said. "This time," he continued, after checking his numbers online, "I started shaking. The sensation was just a big 'wow.'"

Taggart said he was looking forward to playing Santa Claus this year. "My older children are making plans for the money, but my immediate plan is to pay off my mortgage." Taggart said he and his wife, Danielle, may also use a portion of their $660,300 lump sum payment to take some professional development courses.

Taggart bought his winning ticket on December 1st at the Lyell Market & Deli on Lyell Ave. in Rochester. The winning numbers for Powerball for December 1st were 5, 10, 11, 12, 20, and Power Ball 2.

Rochester Store Clerk/Catering Entrepreneur Becomes Lottery Millionaire Overnight

Richard Garney is a store clerk at 7-Eleven's Monroe Ave. store in Rochester by day and an executive chef at his own catering company at night. And now, the busy entrepreneur can add Lottery millionaire to his resume. Garney, 60, said he was initially skeptical about paying an additional dollar for the Power Play option that helped him win $1,000,000 from the November 3rd Powerball drawing. For Garney, the proof was in the pudding.

"I ask for the Power Play option because you never know," he said. "It could be the difference between winning $200,000 and winning $1,000,000. It was worth it to me."

Garney, a self-described content, church going man knows exactly how he will spend his winnings. "I named my business Black Orchid Catering because of the time, love and care that go into raising orchids. The same could be said of growing a business. That's what I want to do." Garney also plans to save a bit of his lump sum payment for retirement.

Garney purchased his winning ticket on October 31st at the Monroe Ave. 7-Eleven where he works. He claimed his prize on November 15th at the Lottery's Customer Service Center in Rochester after consulting with his financial advisors. Garney will receive his $1,000,000 Powerball Power Play prize in one net payment totaling $660,300. The winning numbers for the November 3rd Powerball drawing were 34, 38, 39, 45, 50, and Power Ball 33.

New York's Power Play is an optional multiplier feature available to all Powerball players. The feature, which costs an additional $1 per game, gives players a chance to multiply their winnings at the lower tier prize levels. Players like Taggart and Garney who choose the Power Play option and match the first five numbers drawn, automatically win $1,000,000. Players who match five numbers but don't opt for the $1 Power Play option receive a $200,000 cash prize.

The New York Lottery continues to be North America's largest and most profitable Lottery, earning more than $39.3 billion in education support statewide since its founding over 40 years ago. The Lottery contributed nearly $2.67 billion in fiscal year 2009-2010 to help support education in New York State, which was over 12 percent of total state education funding to local school districts.

Lottery revenue is distributed to local school districts by the same statutory formula used to distribute other state aid to education. It takes into account both a school district's size and its income level; larger, lower-income school districts receive proportionately larger shares of Lottery school funding.

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