NEW ORLEANS — An unclaimed $1 million lottery ticket sold at a gas station near North Rampart Street in August, 2018 just expired in February, but there are millions of dollars in unclaimed prizes still up for grabs.
The odds of winning the Louisiana Lotto is 1-in-3.8 million, but you don't have to win the jackpot to get a hefty pay out.
"We've had four winners this year, and one of them is for $10,000 and no one has claimed it yet," Richard Tallo, owner of Carwash Depot in Ponchatoula, said.
Tallo is amazed that some lucky, or perhaps unlucky, person hasn't realized they've won so much money. Their winning ticket matched four numbers of the Megaplier, the odds of that are 1-in-931,001.
Each year, the Louisiana Lottery estimates abut $9-10 million worth of lottery winnings never get collected.
Kimberly Chopin is with the Louisiana Lottery Corporation, the office that runs the state games as well as MegaMillions and Powerball Lotteries.
There's winnings out there that people haven't come forward with their tickets yet," Chopin said. "You never know, you may be holding on to a $10,000 ticket or a $50,000 Powerball ticket.
From the moment the winning numbers are called, the clock starts to tick. Winners have 180 days to redeem their prize. The winning ticket sold at Car Wash Depot has 110 days left.
Most of the tickets are for smaller prizes, though, like $4.
Those wins add up though. In the latest data available from the lottery corporation, there was a total of 286 tickets sold between November 2017-2018, for a combined $1.7 million in unclaimed prizes of $600 and up
That includes Orleans, Jefferson, St. Tammany, St. John the Baptist, Terrebonne and St. Charles Parishes.
And besides the $10,000 ticket in Ponchatoula, there's also another winner waiting in West Monroe. That ticket holder has just 12 days left, while someone in Zachary could miss out if they don't claim their winnings in 141 days.
So why wait? It's likely that people don't even know they won.
"We had one winner who within 30 days his $50,000 prize was about to expire, his friend told him about an unclaimed prize he had heard about, and sure enough he was using his ticket as a bookmark," Chopin said.
That sounds tragic, but there's sort of an upside. Unclaimed prizes go back into the pot for things like scratch-offs and a portion of all sales goes to the state treasury, specifically marked for education.
Why Play? If you're not going to Check your Ticket(s) and Claim what you Won!
On the flip side of the coin, the same as my neighbor who had a multidraw Powerball ticket. It expired without her realizing it, and the next drawing after it expired, she had the 5 white balls for $100,000
These players do not have a system or habit of storing their tickets. Then they do not pay attention to the results of the games.
A ticket worth $51.7 million was not claimed in 2012. I believe and guess it was in Indiana. I saw this on "LUCKY" an Amazon video.
Some past winners have stuffed their tickets into their car consoles. Never checking them. Off they go flying away in the wind. LOL
Matching the 5 white balls in Power Ball pays $1 mil($1,000,000), not $100,000
People play because they feel that someone has to win, so why not let it be them. But after they have won, they just don't check their ticket/s.
What's worse.....winning and not knowing because you never checked the ticket or finding the ticket one day after it expired and seeing you could have collected a jackpot prize?
I would rather never know, than finding out I missed the deadline on collecting...
$100,000 was over a decade ago before it changed.
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Thank you, Music*.
That's all sad, but true. I'd rather those people didn't play lotto games at all, but . . . . .
(I mean how would it be if a winning ticket that never showed up, happened to have been tossed out in someone's "carbage"?, which I'm sure has happened.)
I'd also like to share that I was fortunate enough to collect a couple of those vinyl lotto envelopes to keep my tickets and slips. They've been invaluable, because of their size, and multiple pockets inside to organize my stuff.
But, also, it's attitude. You see, Lotto is a pretty significant thing to me.
I'll never miss a Sunday, which is the day I play, and check previous tickets.
Thanks, in large part, to the vinyl envelopes.
I save and re-use my play-slips until the game changes to an even more impossible odds matrix.
My play routine, outlined above, also keeps me from thinking about what I've played.
(New lotto players should also see my signature below.)
There was a poster a few years ago that said he bought multidraw pick-5 tickets that expired the day before "his numbers" were drawn. Been awhile since the second PB prize was $100.000; had a former poster brag about winning that.
Groppo, You are welcome.
I mention to the clerks that California pays one million dollars to the store.
I do not promise any gifts. I may start tipping them a couple of dollars. The gift I give him or her will be remembered.
I thank the players who do not collect because the winnings will go to good causes.
There was that famous couple in Britain who forgot to watch the tv show when their numbers came up. They missed the deadline for those who have lost their ticket. Their lives were ruined by the grief they experienced. They divorced. Martyn and Kay Tott. Lottery Post has their story I believe.
It’s quite possible that some lottery players in Louisiana treat playing the game like some professional anglers. You know the “ Catch & release” group, some lottery players in Louisiana & elsewhere will “ play, but will not check.” They enjoy the journey, but not the arrival. Some lottery players are wired differently.
Here's the $100,000 winning Powerball ticket you might have been referring to: https://www.lotterypost.com/thread/168590/960649
(The post right under that is from the same person, a $5,000 winner.)
Yep that's one of was thinking about.