It pays to double-check
By Kate Northrop
SHEPHERD, Mich. — A Michigan man drove around for four months with a winning lottery ticket worth $2 million in his car without realizing it.
Not only did a Michigan resident drive around with a $2 million winning lottery ticket without knowing it, but that winning almost landed in the trash as well.
It pays to double-check your tickets, and an anonymous Isabella County man is thankful he did. Thanks to his caution, and his wife's request, he rediscovered a lottery ticket in a throw-away pile that was actually worth $2 million.
"Every so often I will stop and buy an instant ticket after work," the 29-year-old told the Michigan Lottery. "About four months ago, I bought this 'Money' ticket, but I didn't see any winnings on it when I scratched it, so I threw it in my center console with some other non-winning tickets."
He purchased the $20 "Money" ticket, which cleverly resembles a $100 bill, at the Shepherd E-Z Mart on East Wright Avenue in Shepherd. It wasn't until recently that a request from his wife prompted the anonymous man to take a second look at his scrap pile of losing lottery tickets.
"About a week ago, my wife gave me a few tickets to take to the store and check, so I grabbed the tickets in my center console to double-check," the winner recalled. "When I scanned the 'Money' ticket, I got a message to file a claim at the Lottery office. I went back out to my truck to look the ticket over and realized I'd matched number 13. When I revealed the '$2 MIL' symbol underneath, I was speechless. It is a miracle this ticket didn't end up in the trash!"
Rather than visit a garbage can to throw away the ticket, he took a trip to Lottery headquarters to claim a $2 million top prize instead. He opted to receive his winnings as a $1.3 million lump sum and plans to invest the winnings.
"I don't plan on making any big purchases with the money, but rather use it as a nice financial cushion for our family," he explained.
The nameless player claimed the first of three available top prizes of $2 million in the $20 "Money" game, which launched in March. There are also 16 out of 25 second-tier prizes of $10,000 and 55 out of 106 third-tier prizes of $5,000 remaining.
So far, the Lottery said, players have won more than $47 million playing the "Money" game alone, and more than $61 million in prizes are left to claim. The overall odds of winning any prize in the scratch-off game are 1 in 3.69.
This is what wins? Jeez. For every nine lottery players who play religiously and protect the tickets and check the results, there's the one careless / non-chalant player that hits! MAbye I'm doing it all wrong.
B T W congrats, turned out to be a good outcome. Hate reading stories about lost winning tickets
CONGRATULATIONS
Glad he found them , just in time for the Holidays, enjoy.
* This guy woke up from his slumber in the nick of time, after all- what you never knew you'll never miss. He dodged a nuclear bullet.
its people like him, that I hope miss out on thar respective millions
This is why I prefer to play online. You can't forget the check, or loose your ticket. Small prizes are automatically credited to your online account. And, if you do win a jackpot, or large prize, the lottery will contact you. All in all, it is a win win situation!
He's not spending any of it he claims. The old deflection ruse so the friends and relatives won't be circling his house with their hands out.
This story isn't all that heartwarming. He didn't sound that thrilled about it all that much.
It is great that he could remain anonymous, all lottery winners should have the right to keep their anonymity.
This story sounds very familiar to me...
That's because a few years ago a guy from Long Island NY got stuck in a Memorial Day traffic jam on I-95 in Connecticut. So he pulled into a rest stop to get gas. While he was at the gas pump he saw a sign for The Connecticut Millionaire Raffle drawing set to be drawn on July 4th. Tickets cost twenty bucks and the odds were 125,000 to 1 so he bought a ticket and stashed it in his wallet. Then the July 4th drawing came and went, but nobody came forward to claim the one million dollar prize......
Now it's September and the guy decided to clean out his wallet and saw the raffle ticket. So he checked the Connecticut Lottery's website to see if he won anything. He had won something alright. A million bucks!! G5
Wow! Congratulations to all who have such wonderful luck!
That was a close call. Sometimes it can be hard to tell with those scratchers. That's why I always double check mine and scan them with the lottery app.
I'm glad he got his money and hope he is very happy.
I had an unscratched ticket under my visor for a couple months. When I scanned it, said "not a winner". Winning $2 million is much different and more news worthy than "not a winner". Wonder how many tickets get thrown away or expire that are news worthy.