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Surprise: New Mexico Player Wins $200,000, Gives Half to Brother

Talk about brotherly love.

Matt Surprise and big brother Ronald live in New Mexico and Arizona respectively. As avid lottery players they made a pact that they would each play the lottery in their home states and split any winnings.

On Sept. 27, Matt, pardon the pun, “surprised” his brother with news that he had won $200,000 playing Powerball. His Quick Pick bet matched five of six winning numbers from the game’s drawing and they – not he – would collect the second-tier prize from the New Mexico Lottery.

“I was full of joy,” he told lottery officials, “but my wife and kids were really excited. They were screaming.”

Then, he told his brother.

“We trust each other about sharing,” said Ronald Surprise.

Matt plans to use his windfall to make home improvements and take a trip to Hawaii or Paris. Ronald, who lives in Phoenix, will buy a car for his daughter and make investments. Hopefully, he’ll wait until the stock market stabilizes.

The Surprise brothers weren’t the only lucky New Mexicans on Sept. 27, not by a long shot. Nine players from Roswell matched all six numbers to win the game’s $206.9 million jackpot.

Both the Roswell players and the Surprises claimed their prizes on Friday morning.

In the Money:

Tonight’s Mega Millions jackpot is $23 million.

Wednesday’s Powerball jackpot is $25 million.

Good luck.