Million-dollar ticket sat untouched for five months
By Kate Northrop
BRISTOL, R.I. — A university president bought a Mega Millions lottery ticket, placed it in a drawer, and forgot about it for five months, unaware of the fact that it had won a $1 million prize.
Ioannis Miaoulis, the president of Roger Williams University in Bristol, Rhode Island, thought it would be fun to buy a lottery ticket, but that ticket sat in his drawer for five months before he discovered it won $1 million in a Mega Millions drawing.
"But it's kind of fun once in a while to get a ticket," Miaoulis told The Providence Journal. "You buy a dream for $10."
Although he certainly was not expecting to win the then $333 million Mega Millions jackpot on Feb. 2, he still ended up emerging from the drawing luckier than he imagined.
After Miaoulis bought his ticket at the Stop & Shop grocery store on Metacom Avenue in Bristol, he figured the odds of that ticket winning were low. He placed the unassuming ticket in a drawer and didn't give it a second thought.
He had no idea that the first five winning numbers in the drawing — 11, 22, 42, 64, and 69 — were printed on that ticket. Although he missed the Mega Ball 19 to win that evening's jackpot, there was still a significant prize of $1 million sitting in his drawer just begging to be remembered.
According to the Rhode Island Lottery, Miaoulis noticed that there was a prize unclaimed from a ticket bought at the same location he happened to play the lottery at. After five months, he finally re-opened the drawer and discovered it was a winner.
The university president visited the Lottery with his daughter to cash in the ticket and claim the prize. Right after leaving the Lottery's offices, check in-hand, the pair headed to a nearby sushi restaurant to celebrate.
"My daughter couldn't believe I had lunch with that check in my pocket," Miaoulis told the Journal.
Once they finished their meal, he deposited the winnings into his account. He plans on donating some of the money to his favorite charity, as well as the university. He'll also share some of it with his family and will put the rest toward retirement in six years.
Had he had matched that final Mega Ball number to win the jackpot, he said, he would have still kept working.
That jackpot went on to eventually reach a towering $1.13 billion, which was won by one ticket in New Jersey on Tues., March 26. It is the largest prize ever won in the state, and the winner has yet to come forward to claim it. Whoever is holding the winning ticket has one year from the draw date to do so.
The next Mega Millions drawing will take place on Fri., July 19 at 11:00 pm EST for a jackpot of $251 million.
Mega Millions is currently offered for sale in 45 states, plus Washington, D.C. and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Drawings are Tuesdays and Fridays at 11:00 pm Eastern Time. Tickets cost $2 each.
The Mega Millions winning numbers are published at USA Mega (www.usamega.com) minutes after the drawing takes place.
(Click to display full-size in gallery)
Congrats!
Sounds like a busy man who loves his job, so forgetting about the lottery ticket is understandable. Luckily, he read about the unclaimed ticket in the news.
*"prize unclaimed on a ticket in the news."
Love that he dad lunch with his daughter with the check in his pocket. Shows where his priorities are.
This is exactly why I only buy tickets online. If you win, you get an email with the news. If it is a low level prize, it is automatically credited to your lottery account. For larger prizes and jackpots, you are invited to make a claim. You don't have to worry about loosing or forgetting your ticket. I couldn't go back to paper tickets.
Yes that is understandable but most people don't know about buying tickets online, don't know how to do it or don't want to do it. This is why when we hear about large jackpot winners, we also here about the store the ticket was purchased from and the owner getting money for selling the ticket.
In many states, online buying is not available. Sometimes I wish it was available here.
More states don't than do offer on-line purchases of lottery tickets. Luckily I'm in one that does, however it seems like I buy more in the store than ever.
With SCOTUS decision (I think) about sports betting, it gives me hope that the antiquated 1961 law prohibiting certain things across state lines. Heck how many lotteries existed then? It would be wonderful if I could exercise my First Amendment rights to purchase say California lottery either over the phone or Internet.
IDK why MA got rid of their subscription service. It was slowly chiseled away, first could not purchase them in stores anymore (how I got mine through family/friends in MA). Then they have two separate offices in Dorchester; yet 'they' outsourced subscription calls to Atlanta. And like I said, now it is gone for good. Oh well, good riddance!
I am the opposite. I want that winning ticket printed and in my possession when I find out I won. I couldn't sleep knowing that I now have to trust someone at the lottery office to facilitate my claim for the prize. They could say when I show up there oh, you were not the only winner. 71 other people here in the office liked your numbers so they played the same ones. You now are splitting it 72 ways. On our lunch hour here we go over everyone's subscription numbers and we all play the one we like the best. It was yours this time. And it happened to win. Lucky you and lucky us. Transparency is more important than convenience when playing the lottery is my motto.
Every time we read about someone finding a winning lottery ticket in their glove compartment, visor, or in a desk drawer months after the drawing, the question is asked "why even buy a ticket if they don't check it?".
Miaoulis answered the question by saying: "it's kind of fun once in a while to get a ticket,". Most of us had a clerk ask if we wanted to buy a MM or PB ticket with the change or an extra ticket they had. But most of us would check the ticket no later than the next day.
The "once in a while" players sometimes forget they bought the ticket especially if they bought it a day or two before the drawing. Next time we read where a large value ticket is about to expire or did expire, it's probably because one of the part time players bought the ticket.