CHICAGO, Ill. — A Chicago, Illinois, man recently came close to losing $9 million that he didn't know he had.
Irving Przyborski had bought a winning Lotto ticket which was due to expire at the end of the day on Thursday, but he found the ticket last week in a tax folder and claimed it just in time.
Przyborski had bought a number of lottery tickets a year ago and checked the numbers on most of them and they were not winners, according to Illinois Lottery spokesman Tracy Owens. Apparently, one ticket fell into a tax file he had been working with, and it wasn't until he decided to do his tax returns last week that he found the ticket.
He took it to his local store, checked the numbers and learned he was a millionaire.
Owens describes Przyborski as being a "quiet, laid back" man who seemed unfazed by his winnings. He claimed a lump sum prize.
If Przyborski had not claimed his winnings by midnight Thursday night, the money would have gone into the state's Common School Fund. Owens said that about $2 million in unclaimed winnings a month go into the School Fund. Most are from much lower jackpots than Przyborski claimed.
Until Thursday, the Illinois Lottery had the $9 million jackpot still listed on its "unclaimed prizes" website page. Owens said that was an oversight which is being corrected.
Two million a month in unclaimed winnings?
I wonder why all those people are buying tickets?
Congrats to the lucky guy, glad he figured it out.
I'm glad he got his money but on the whole, are that many people that dumb that 2 million a month goes unclaimed in Illinois alone?
If so, it's no wonder that lottery clerks and mailmen can rip people off so easy.
Just in the nick of time for the tax man to cometh...!
I wonder this all the time when I check FL Lotto's website to see past winners, retailer locations, etc.
I'm amazed at how many of the winning tickets still show "Unclaimed" which are from several months back getting ready to expire.
If you are going to play the lottery, at least keep your <snip> tickets in a safe place & check them!!!!
If you dont care, then let other people buy tickets and have a chance at the jackpot!
I forgot some tickets in my pants and washed them. Oh God, I replaced them but I felt terrible.
Until Thursday, the Illinois Lottery had the $9 million jackpot still listed on its "unclaimed prizes" website page. Owens said that was an oversight which is being corrected.
Sounds like Owens feels personally responsible for the state losing a chance to claim that $9M jackpot but a serious lottery player will always know where his tickets are and check them before they expire.
a serious lottery player will always know where his tickets are and check them before they expire.
Better late than never! Congrats to the winner! Now he can pay his 2010 taxes with his lotto win!
"I'm a Chicagoan until Chicago wins!" Kanye West
Rjoh is right. A "serious player always checks his/her tickerts" but the problem is these "serious" players never win. It's always these idiots who buy tickets and forget to even check them that end up winning. Go figure!
Over the years I've read several stories about lottery winners who waited till the last minute to make a claim but never once thought any of them were idiots. Remember the guy in New Jersey who mailed in his claim the day before his ticket expired? I had my doubts about him only because he used the mail. I think some winners prefer to wait until local interest has died down to make their claims.
An idiot probaly wouldn't ever know he once had a winning ticket or at best only suspected he had it and lost it after reading about it but wouldn't be able to prove he was ever in the store that sold it.
I wonder why that money doesn't go into the jackpot for that game.
It's common knowledge that the state practices "voodoo accounting" and what is pluged into the school fund from the lottery is taken out of education money somewhere else.