A Michigan man said he might have never known about his $25,000 a year for life lottery jackpot if his father hadn't come to visit.
Bhavik Patel, 29, of Kentwood, told Michigan Lottery officials he bought a Lucky for Life ticket from the Speedway gas station at 16819 Marsh Road in Haslett with the numbers 7, 12, 20, 27, and 48.
"I bought the ticket when I was visiting my sister, who lives in Lansing," said Patel. "I never thought about it again until my dad came to me with a shocked look on his face to tell me I won."
Patel said the ticket for the April 23 drawing sat in a pile of unchecked tickets on his desk for two months until his father came to visit.
"I buy tickets and a lot of times I will forget to check them right away," Patel said. "My dad was in town visiting recently and saw a pile of tickets on my desk, so he started checking them. If he hadn't done that, who knows when, or if, I would have found out that I had won."
Patel visited lottery headquarters Friday and chose to take his prize as an annuity: $25,000 a year for life or 20 years, whichever is greater. With his winnings, he plans to pay bills and then save the remainder for now.
"Knowing I can count on this for the rest of my life gives me such a sense of security," Patel said.
For just $2 per play, Lucky For Life gives Lottery players a chance to win prizes ranging from $3 to a lifetime of cash. To win the game's top prize of $1,000 a day for life, players must match all five winning numbers ranging from 1 to 48, plus one Lucky Ball ranging from 1 to 18. Players who match all five winning numbers, but not the Lucky Ball, will win $25,000 a year for life.
Lucky for Life is a multi-state lottery game, available for purchase in 24 states plus the District of Columbia. Lucky For Life drawings take place every Monday and Thursday at 10:35 p.m.
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That's a nice win right there!
...now if Bhavik’s father owned a convenient store & had given him that ticket months ago, that he forgot to check, this would be a totally different story. We would be deep in the realm of “ hmmm.”
Bhavik Patel will probably reward his father. WOW! What a nice cushion to have. But of course, Uncle Sam will take his cut. Too bad it wasn't the $1,000.00 a day for life.
At age 29 taking the Annuity is probably a good decision on his part.
Marking a winning lottery ticket like someone did on line B. is not a good idea. This might have lead to more security checks and delayed payment.
A good example for checking your Lottery Tickets in a Timely Manner!
all i can say is WOW how lucky
Hi all. I'm new here but been reading the comments for a long time. Congrats to the winner. I would have checked my tickets asap. While $25,000 a year is not near enough to rely on by itself, it'll have to suffice as a helpful nest egg. You can't buy a car with it or even a nice house/condo and it'll take 40 years to receive $1m. I would have taken the cash option!
Welcome LottoHombre to LP!! If I were his age, I'd have taken annual payments too.
Do you get to travel to Washington State to play the lottery?
Just called the Michigan lottery to see how long their tickets are good for, seems couldn't find it on-line---good for one year so he had plenty of time to get the ticket cashed.
Also inquired to my email a couple of months ago where I suggested they have a beginning AND end date for multi-draws since you can purchase up to 30 advance draws. The email said it was a good idea, on the phone call I asked and she said no plans for it. Told her it makes it more difficult to figure out the end date. Well an A+ for trying twice.
No. I have a brother in Ohio who buys tickets for me. Though I never play those scratch off ones. Only Mega and occasionally Powerball
LottoHombre, Enjoy the 24-hour sunshine up their in Alaska this Summer. Plus all the fauna and flora growth spurt. It must be a beautiful sight. I envy you, Enjoy!