At 10:59 p.m. Wednesday, UF students will watch as the U.S. Powerball numbers are called.
Michael Russel, a UF political science and criminology and law sophomore, formed the Lottery Ticket Alliance on Jan. 10 as a way to give fellow students and himself a higher chance of winning the $1.4 billion jackpot. If one person in the group wins, the winner keeps half of the jackpot, while the other half is divided among the 25 members.
“How cool would it be for a bunch of students to win this money and pay off student debt?” the 19-year-old said.
The other students, whom he said he promised would stay anonymous unless they win, have all listed their ticket numbers. Russel said he’ll look at the numbers Wednesday night to see if someone in the group won.
Luigi Ricard, 19, said he read about the alliance on Facebook.
“No sane person would sign off half of their winnings,” the UF biomedical engineering sophomore said.
Ricard said he’s seen other groups like Russel’s, but he was surprised his didn’t have a legally binding contract. He said he plans on buying 10 tickets himself, but it would be cool if UF students win the jackpot.
“I’d be kind of proud of the UF students,” he said.
Russel said he hopes to increase UF students’ chances of winning, but anything can happen.
“This is not a guaranteed win,” he said.
Contact Melissa Gomez at mgomez@alligator.org and follow her on Twitter @MelissaGomez004.
