Big win almost goes unnoticed after Lottery reaches out to her a second time

By Kate Northrop

A Michigan woman found a lifechanging email sitting in her junk folder alerting her to a $227,383 lottery prize she had won in a second chance drawing.

Check your junk folder! A Michigan lottery player is sure glad she did, because she came across an email from the Michigan Lottery notifying her that she had a $227,383 second chance jackpot prize waiting for her.

However, this was actually the second time the Lottery had tried to reach out to her. The first time was when the Lottery had left her a voicemail, but she chose to ignore it, thinking it wasn't real.

"I noticed one day I had a voicemail from a few days prior, but I didn't recognize the number," the anonymous winner said in a press release. "When I listened to it, and it was the Michigan Lottery informing me I'd won a $227,383 prize, I didn't know what to think. I told myself if it was real, I'd have some other sort of notification in my Lottery account or email."

The 56-year-old had been making entries in the giveaway by playing eligible "BIG CA$H Second Chance Jackpot" games online. In the second chance drawing that took place on March 13, she was randomly selected as the jackpot winner.

But the initial voicemail she received, despite her thinking it was phony, may have prompted her to take a closer look in the nooks and crannies of her email inbox.

"I checked my email and didn't see anything, so I checked my junk mail just in case," she told the Lottery. "As soon as I clicked my junk mailbox, there it was, an email from the Michigan Lottery! I couldn't believe it. I researched all weekend to make sure it was real and then called the Lottery as soon as they opened Monday morning."

On Thursday, the Lottery announced that she had indeed visited Lottery headquarters in Lansing to claim her second chance jackpot prize, which she'll use to complete home projects and invest.

"I can't describe how much of a relief it is to win," the winner said. "This prize couldn't have come at a better time and is going to change my life!"

Players can earn entries into the drawing for the second chance jackpot by playing applicable BIG CA$H Second Chance games online. Every purchase for these games funds a progressive jackpot, which has been awarded one player each month since its inception in March 2023. Players earn one entry for every $0.50 wagered in eligible games.

According to the Lottery, players have won more than $7.3 million in progressive prizes, with jackpot sizes ranging from $227,383 to $729,743.

At the start of each month, a new drawing period begins, and the progressive jackpot is reset to $5,000. The next drawing is scheduled for April 10.