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Jan 18, 2008, 8:38 pm (12 comments)
Another winning ticket due to expire Sunday
The holder of a winning Powerball ticket sold in Dakota County, Minnesota, last year has missed the opportunity to cash in. The winner had until 5 p.m. Thursday to claim the $200,000 prize they won by matching the five white balls drawn on Jan. 17, 2007.
The scenario could play out again on if another winning ticket holder does not show up at state lottery headquarters by 5 p.m. Tuesday. A lottery official said an outstanding ticket worth $50,000 is supposed to expire Sunday, but the holder will get two extra days because the lottery office is closed on Sunday and Monday because of the Martin Luther King holiday.
Winners have one year from the drawing date to redeem their tickets. Forfeited winnings are transfered to the state's general fund.
"It's very sad," a spokeswoman said. "But sometimes they find it at the end, so we can only hope."
Another Powerball ticket also worth $200,000 and sold in Dakota County has not been redeemed. But that ticket won't expire until Nov. 24. For the record, the winning numbers for the Nov. 24, 2007 drawing were 1, 7, 13, 23 and 25. The Powerball was 19.
The chances of matching the five white balls is 1 in 3,563,608, according to lottery officials.
It's rare, but not unprecedented, that holders of winning tickets do not claim their prizes. In September, a lottery official estimated that on average $7 million in winnings go unclaimed each year.
Star Tribune
Hopefully someone will see this article and look to check their old tickets.
Why? It already expired, so that would even be worse. Imagine finding an expired ticket worth $200,000!! I don't think I could handle it.
Well there is still two other tickets in the article that haven't expired yet. Hopefully those people find or redeem their tickets before they expire.
Sorry, ScaryChick. You are right. I guess I read the article too quickly. They are getting 2 extra days too. There was a story on LP about a couple in Colorado who saw the news and validated a winning ticket the night it was going to expire, so it can happen. I think they got to the store at 11PM.
I always thought a ticket had to be claimed at a Lottery Office by the expiration date, but I guess in some states it just has to be validated by a retailer. Any comments on this?
"Winners have one year from the drawing date to redeem their tickets. Forfeited winnings are transfered to the state's general fund."
A year is a long time. In FL we only get 180 days to claim prizes. I would try to redeem it as soon as possible. Even after taxes, if you have $130,000, that's over $6,000 just in interest in a bank CD. As Scary wrote, maybe the publicity will wake someone up, but I fear whoever bought the winning ticket and hasn't claimed it in almost a year doesn't even know he/she has it or lost it.
Any thoughts that these tickets are ones that were jammed in the printers and because they can't be cancelled, they are forever lost.
i said it b4 and I'll say it again..... this would never happen to me unless I had taken the permenant rest.
its rare ...but sometimes people lose their tickets just as you can lose any other items (keys, credit card, cell phone)..I'll say the majority of these are simply lost tickets...
Or they just never bothered to check them.
thats true also...On the other hand many just ask the clerk to check...I have had twice in new jersey the terminal was saying not a winner when scanning the line code but when i asked the clerk to punch it, it was winner...also in maryland they have these scanners much like the price checks at dept stores where you can just scannit it and it tells you...there is always a possibilty that it doesnt scan right especially when the ticket is folded (it can mess up the barcode) and someone tosses it in trash...better to double check numbers yourself
I see a lot of damage tickets because people write on them, fold them, wad them up. A ticket that could be worth Millions should be treated like Millions until proven to be worth less than the $1 paid for it.
If I cannot scan a ticket, I try to punch in the numbers, sometimes those cannot be read because ticket was folded.. So I suggest to the person to go to take it to the headquarters and have it checked. After waiting 3 months to check a ticket, it doesn't even show what days it was bought for, so it is impossible for me to look up the drawings on the terminal.
tntea writes: I see a lot of damage tickets because people write on them, fold them, wad them up. A ticket that could be worth Millions should be treated like Millions until proven to be worth less than the $1 paid for it.
I keep my tickets in a see-thru pouch that was made by Powerball. I've had the thing for years. They used to have them available at a bunch of stores, but I don't see them anymore. I can't see just folding up my ticket and stuffing it in my pocket. I like my tickets to look nice and polished.