WHITEHOUSE STATION, N.J. - Robert Space got to work at Chubb Insurance at 6:30 a.m. yesterday, realized that the Mega Millions lottery ticket he was holding matched the winning numbers, and fired off a one-line e-mail to nine coworkers who had pitched in to buy it.
"We won the big one," it read.
The replies came back instantly. "Hahahaha," wrote one. "GREAT. Where do I pick up the cash?" joked another. Then they saw the ticket for themselves.
Space and his colleagues hit the second-largest single-ticket jackpot in New Jersey history, winning $216 million in the Mega Millions jackpot.
"I feel incredibly blessed. I can't even absorb it," Space said, surrounded by stunned colleagues and clutching the ticket during a news conference at their office in this central New Jersey town.
Space, with $5 from each colleague, said he bought 50 quick-pick tickets Monday afternoon at the Singin Oil gas station in Toms River.
He stopped by the station yesterday morning to get a printout of the winning numbers and spoke with the attendant.
"I jokingly asked him if anyone had won and if it was sold here, but he didn't know," Space said. So Space stuffed the list into his pocket.
It wasn't until an hour or so later that he had time to review the list, scanning each row and growing increasingly shocked as first one, then two, then three - then six numbers matched.
He called his wife to make sure he wasn't hallucinating, then sent out the e-mail.
"It takes a lot of stress out of life," Space said of the big win. The 10 will split a $216 million annuity or a one-time payout of about $140 million.
Lottery officials said no one had officially come forward to claim the prize. The 10 have not discussed when they would claim the prize but have a year to do so.
Taner Cetintas of Jackson, who owns Singin Oil, will collect $10,000 for selling the ticket. Cetintas, a Turkish immigrant who worked decades as a station manager before saving enough to buy Singin Oil in January, said that he was happy for his customer and that his own bonus would help pay bills.
The six men and four women who won said they hade worked in Chubb's information technology division from seven to 30 years and have bought tickets together for years.
Their usual buyer, Alan Mooney, always stops by colleagues' desks to collect money, asking, "Are ya in?" Mooney, who was among the winners, was in Florida on business. Space said Mooney was hurrying back to New Jersey, "upgrading to first-class," he joked.
Space said there were some colleagues who opted out of this buy.
One regular buyer, Oscar Oviedo, had asked Space to count him in and promised $5 for his share. Space rushed over to him early yesterday and demanded the money.
"I thought, 'How rude!' " Oviedo said with a laugh, recalling how he handed over $5. "Then he said, 'OK, thanks. You're a millionaire!' "
The winning numbers were 26, 32, 35, 43 and 52, and the Mega Ball was 10.
In addition to Space, of Manchester Township; Mooney, of Budd Lake; and Oviedo, of Stewartsville, the winners are: Gerard Solas of Hillsborough; Anne LaFontaine of Summit; Linda Harrington of Bay Head; Melanie Jacob of Alexandria Township; Joanne Roth of Basking Ridge; Bill Bollwage of Bridgewater; and Todd Ellis of Maplewood.
New Jersey joins Pennsylvania and Delaware in a recent wave of lottery luck. The service counter at Plymouth Meeting Mall in Pennsylvania and at Benbow's Package Store in Dover, Del., sold the only two tickets to share the $174.4 million Powerball jackpot on Saturday night.
The Powerball win was Pennsylvania's fourth since August, and the biggest haul for Philadelphia or its surrounding counties since May 2004.
In October, a York, Pa., couple hit a jackpot worth $58.6 million after 22 Philadelphia postal workers hit one worth $20 million. A Lancaster County family nabbed a $86.3 million prize on Aug. 2.
Since 2002, New Jerseyans have won 14 Mega Millions jackpots, which, collectively, had annuity values of more than $1.2 billion.
The payout for Tuesday night's drawing is topped only by a Bergen County couple's $258 million win in September 2005.