By Todd Northrop
A homeless Michigan man who realized he won the state's Lotto 47 game dived into a dumpster to retrieve the winning ticket.
The man, who chose to remain anonymous, was one of two people who split the $9.64 million jackpot with the winning $1 ticket he bought for the Oct. 10 drawing. He bought the winning ticket, worth $4.82 million, at the B&D Mini Mart at 32 West Munger Road in Munger.
"I have been playing the same numbers on Lotto 47 for more than two years," the man said. "I always use the same playslip to buy my tickets. In fact... I accidentally threw it away and had to climb in a dumpster to get it back. I am so lucky that I found it."
On Oct. 11, the man was out for a walk when he checked the winning numbers. He said he was stunned when the six numbers matched.
"As soon as I saw they matched, I started shaking and haven't stopped since," he said.
"It's been a rough couple of years for me. An injury caused me to go on disability and I haven't been able to find any work. Winning this prize has turned my life around in an instant. It means I can finally get some medical procedures that I couldn't have afforded before. This will undoubtedly improve my quality of life."
The man went to Lottery headquarters Thursday and decided to take a lump sum of approximately $3 million.
The winning numbers in the Oct. 10 Lotto 47 drawing were 5, 12, 24, 31, 35, and 42.
The second winning ticket from the drawing was bought at The Silver House Liquor, located at 16661 25 Mile Road in Macomb Township. The winning ticket holder, a Macomb County man who chose to remain anonymous, claimed his share of the jackpot on Oct. 12.
Each Lotto 47 play is only $1. Players select six numbers from one to 47 for a chance to win a jackpot starting at $1 million and grows until someone wins it. For an additional $1 per game, players may add EZMatch to their ticket for a chance to win up to $500 instantly.
Michigan residents can buy Lotto 47 tickets online. Other games such as Powerball, Mega Millions, and Fantasy 5 can also be purchased online by Michigan residents.
Lotto 47 drawings take place on Wednesday and Saturday at 7:29 p.m. Tickets may be purchased until 7:08 p.m. on the day of the drawing.
Perfect story to start Thanksgiving week.
So glad this poor, downtrodden soul was Blessed with a huge win. Just what he needed and then some to turn his life around.
Don' t think/hope not anyway that he somehow ends up broke again.
Feel good story #1 of the week.
Congrats on the win, but always need to treat lottery tickets as you would handle cash.
He said "I have been playing the same numbers on Lotto 47 for more than two years," It just seems that lately a lot of people are winning with numbers they have played for long periods of time.
He also said he was 'out for a walk' and checked the numbers on his phone before realising (this was in the original report I read on Michigan lottery site, where there was no suggestion the winner was homeless). I suspect the truth has been bent in this report.
Congrats on the nice win "Mr. Anonymous" and best of luck on getting your medical issues corrected. The important part is that you found your winning ticket.... I bet a certain portion of your anatomy was having pucker-factor 14 trying to locate that ticket... it's not funny about temporarily throwing the ticket away but I am chuckling at the life lesson of ticket security.
Wonderful
Yes it is. Makes one wonder at what point did he realize that he had thrown a winning ticket away? It seems our brains disengage & then somehow corrects itself. Kinda like driving, missing your turnoff, because you mentally distracted & head for the next exit to turn around.
Hope all goes well for this guy!
He didn't throw away his ticket. He threw away the play slip he used to buy tickets. Congratulations to him.
That may well be Z, but the West Coast edition of L.P. says " He threw away the winning ticket" in the very first paragraph of the article.
The article does not say that. Guess facts don't matter. The headline is wrong.
I would like to read about this lucky man in three years and find out if he lost all of his lottery money. I hear most lottery winners lose their money in three years after they win. Being that he wants to remain anonymous, we may never know if he went broke. Congratulations to the winner!
Which article are you referring to Z? Do you have another source that says different? I just went to a site called AJC.com, and they said the same thing " retrieved winning ticket from dumpster."
"This will undoubtedly improve my quality of life." This is the lottery dream that is shared by millions.
MM & PB are at decent levels now.
It's in this article--didn't you read the article?
With great fortune, you need to be wise, and not splurge on a overpriced house, or over priced car's, and truck's,. You need to be really careful, because the money can go quickly, if you are not intelligent with it!
It almost seems like the MI lottery is a little different than from this morning...maybe it's just me. Said this time he retrieved the PLAY SLIP from the dumpster.
IDC one way or the other, but first time reading the article David Edwards came to mind. No deja vu please.
l can see where you coming from Z, but l am going off the first paragraph. Personally, I see no reason to jump into a dumpster for a play slip, regardless how many times or years one has played them.
1st: one cannot claim a winning jackpot with a play slip.
2nd: l cannot understand his actions, after all, all he had to do was copy the same numbers off the ticket, and bingo, he is off to the races, again. Unless a smelly, rancid play slip from a dumpster is his thing. But hey...
.
I would go in to a dumpster, after my play slips, if I accidentally threw them away. You see I play all my numbers, both self-pick and random#s on slips.
Unless the dumpster had some icky sticky runny stuff on the sides.
("icky runny stuff on the sides" ? wtf? groppo, lol , it would just be your insane juice").
This guy sure gave lots of info for someone wanting to remain anonymous. Wonder if his winning ticket was wrapped around a half eaten Twinkie?
" You see l play all my numbers, both self- picks and random #s on slips."
If that be so G, what would stop you from reworking a new set of numbers, why put yourself in harms way by climbing into the dumpster, stepping on shards of glass, piercing the soles of your sneakers resulting in an infection, which requires a visit to the emergency room, where the nurse innocently asks you " So how did you injure yourself?" Would you answer under your breath" l stepped on glass inside a dumpster." When asked, did l hear you say dumpster? Groppo answers. " yeah, dumpster.. dumb right? But l needed to get in there. I had thrown away something of value, you see Those were my lucky play -slips, l couldn't risk them falling into the wrong hands.
Nurse: l am too afraid to ask.
"what would stop you from reworking a new set of numbers"
Maybe the right question is how do you keep playing the same numbers? It might be sloppy reporting or it might be how the guy described things, but here's what the guy is quoted as saying: "I always use the same playslip to buy my tickets. In fact... I accidentally threw it away and had to climb in a dumpster to get it back. I am so lucky that I found it."
The way normal people speak that quote would clearly mean he accidentally threw the "same playslip" that he'd been using for some time in the dumpster. If he didn't have the numbers recorded elsewhere, which is entirely possible if he'd already tossed his most recent losing ticket(s), recovering the play slip would be the only way to continue playing the same numbers.
What's absolutely certain is that he won by playing the same numbers he had been using for 2 years, so it's a very good thing that he didn't lose the play slip and come up with a new set of numbers.
WOW.....Can't we all just be happy he won? Why so critical of the article? Who here hasn't accidentally thrown something away and then wonder where the heck you put it? Also, my best friend has been playing the same powerball numbers for over 14 years - he still has yet to memorize the numbers or adequately keep up with them. He's older and just relies on that slip. When the lottery here (in SC) changed companies and switched out slips he didn't even know how to fill out the new slip when his didn't work anymore. I had to do it for him. He plays for weeks at a time once a month and then forgets about it until I remind him to check his ticket each month. He keeps the lottery ticket and the slip in the same long envelope. I've found that darn envelope in his car, under the seat, in the glove compartment, in a box of newspapers, sometimes on the fridge, sometimes on top of the washing machine...all over the place....he just doesn't care enough. THOSE are the people that will win. One day I checked and he had $24 dollars on it over a month old. I finally took a snapshot of his slip so that if/when he does finally lose it, I can give him his numbers.
If his numbers came out (or even just 4 or 5) and he didn't know where he put that envelope you best believe I'd be going through that darn dumpster with him looking for that envelope. A dumpster, trash, scratches, dirt...all of that means nothing when you're broke, homeless or living paycheck to paycheck.
I say all this to say that all the back and forth about who read what doesn't matter and it doesn't matter if it was the slip or ticket he went dumpster diving for. What matters is that this homeless man was finally blessed and yeah, about that! I'm technically homeless, living from one friend's house to the next doing odd jobs and selling all my things out of storage. When I sell something I spend $2.00 on a powerball hoping for a miracle. My cellphone - it was free from the government. IF you're unemployed and if you give them all of your personal information to verify your lack of income and they set you up with the unemployment office, they issue you an old fashioned flip phone with 100 minutes on it so that potential employers can contact you. So stop being so judgmental of people and be blessed with what you have. Is it really so hard just to be happy for someone that comes into a good fortune?
*Those who live in glass houses should not throw stones*
l would agree with you Floyd, but he had already won with the current tickets he possessed. There was no reason to get into the dumpster, unless he needed those "exact" play slips.Throwing your play slip away in the round file at a store & retrieving them then & there, is fine, but getting into a dumpster is totally different, at least for me. But to each his own.
No one is " unhappy " that he won. We simply having a discussion on the topic. What is so wrong with that?
"WOW.....Can't we all just be happy he won?"
We all should be ecstatic that someone we don't know won money playing the lottery and while we're at it, what about the casinos, horse racing, or any other form of gambling where people win something. And it doesn't hurt to offer tips we believe is helpful to someone that will never read them or could careless what we think.
But it looks like you're missing the point of the article which is in the title and in the first sentence.
A homeless Michigan man who realized he won the state's Lotto 47 game dived into a dumpster to retrieve the winning ticket.
If he didn't know what numbers he played, how did he realize he won?
And it doesn't make any sense looking for his play slip if he knew which numbers he wanted to play. We're discussing a lottery based article with pros and cons on dumpster diving, not the person.
Thank you for your point of view on the matter dopey.I will respectfully disagree with some of your last paragraph. A judgement is based on what is evident and also prior knowledge of a person/subject and the particular actions that transpired. If we as humans aren't allowed to be as you put it,"so judgemental" of another persons actions,then how can we shares ideas or information to advance ? Because I believe that you need to be held responsible/have integrity for your actions in being a good person, doesn't mean that Rcbbuckeye or Stack47 or Music or noise-gate or even Todd has to agree with my point of view. We have all learned of the downfalls of past big winners, we learn from their negative outcomes and we express our 1st Amendment rights in doing so. That's what makes us a great country with numerous opportunities to do better. Because of negative circumstances we become stronger as a lottery player/person/group/nation. Expressing those ideas/judgements to discuss whether they are pro or con is always a good thing. While I am far from a perfect person and have made numerous errors in my 50+ years of existence in the USA. I try to learn from other points of view and can also accept criticism of mine because I don't know everything there is to know about all situations.
Your last statement about living in glass houses and throwing stones is true but there is also another old statement that was taught to me back in the 60's and 70's while growing up. "Sticks and stones will break my bones but words will never hurt me"(unless only I allow them to). I might suggest you consider that one for usage as well.
Best of luck to you on your next lottery purchase
Congrats
How do you know when he went into the dumpster to retrieve whatever he was after?
The quote is from the guy himself: "I always use the same playslip to buy my tickets. In fact... I accidentally threw it away and had to climb in a dumpster to get it back." Is that how you'd say it if you were talking about throwing the ticket away? Why did he even mention always using the same play slip?
Then there's this quote: "As soon as I saw they matched, I started shaking and haven't stopped since," If he saw that the numbers matched he was probably looking at something else with those numbers. Had he already gone dumpster diving to recover a ticket before knowing it was a winner? Was he looking at the play slip? Either way, why would he say he started shaking right away without clearly saying he had thrown the ticket away?
I think the logical explanation is that the quote means exactly what it says and that some reporter who doesn't get enough time to do a good job got confused.
The man, who chose to remain anonymous
Just a guess, but maybe someone from the lottery was interviewed instead of the winner. And that would account for all the discrepancies in the story.