As one year ends and another begins, it's always a great time for reflection.

We are happy for another year of offering this one of a kind and unique service to lottery players in the State of Arizona, and we look forward to 2012 being a Big $ucce$$ for our members. Many of you have become friends that we enjoy meeting and chatting on the phone with as well. All of this camaraderie just makes the desire to bring home that jackpot winner all the greater. We don't think winning a jackpot is anything you 'ramp' up to. It just hits, out of the blue and WHAM... there you go.

Not long ago, there was a story about a group of plumbers out of Canada that won a $30 million jackpot. These 7 plumbers played for a number of years together. One fellow named Dave, had dropped out of the group about a year earlier. He said it was hard to stay in. He kept putting in cash and wasn't winning big. He decided it just wasn't going to happen. And then it did. Dave said he was happy to learn his co-workers were new millionaires. He offered them a quick proposal. He said, "If each of you gives me $100,000, then I can retire too." Dave said, "I didn't have any bites. It's just one of those things."

We think this illustrates an important point. Don't alter your lottery buying pattern. If Dave would have stayed in the pool, he would be some millions richer and retired. It also reminds us of the many folks who say they only play the lottery when it reaches a certain amount, like $100 million. Well, if these people would have done that, they would not have won. So play, regardless of the jackpot amount, as it is irrelevant. Even the smallest jackpot is a life-changing win.

The purpose of this story is not to strike fear in your heart, should you decide not to play. But you know we've all heard these same kinds of stories. If you can find a comfortable, affordable spot to hang in there, do so, because you JUST NEVER KNOW.

On January 15, 2012, Powerball will be making some changes to their game. It has been a very long time since the last significant change, and we are curious to see what the effect will be. The price will go from $1 per ticket to $2. The multiplier or power play tickets will go from $2 to $3 each. The odds will come down and some of the prize amounts will go up, the most significant one will be a cool $1 million for hitting 5 white balls. The goal is to make more millionaires. That's an idea we can get behind. Jackpots will start at $40 million and the powerball folks predict a rapid increase in jackpot amounts. You can read more details about the changes in the News you Need section of this newsletter.

The important thing to note is that you need do NOTHING. Our prices will remain the same.

The number of powerball tickets will be reduced by half due to the price increase. Once these changes take place and you become comfortable with them, you can decide if you want to make any changes. There is nothing you need to do now. Everything will continue as before. We hope you'll come along with us or join in the fun, if you're not playing already, to see how it will all work.

If you haven't purchased any Millionaire Raffle pools, or even if you have and would like to get into more, we are still putting those pools together for the big January 4, 2012 drawing. See details for that in the News You Need section also.

In the meantime, we plan to bring you more chances of winning with maybe even a few tricks up our sleeve in the coming months. Stay tuned for chills and thrills in 2012.

We wish you a Very Merry Christmas, a Happy Hanukkah and a Joyful New Year.