Double checking your tickets never hurts
By Kate Northrop
WARREN, Mich. — A Michigan man's interesting scratch-off play style almost led him to losing out on a $4 million lottery prize.
A Michigan resident almost lost out on a $4 million winning lottery ticket after getting tricked by his own random method of playing scratch-off games.
The anonymous 43-year-old recounted how his purchase of a $30 "Magnificent Millions" ticket at the 9 Mile Stop & Go on Van Dyke in Warren thankfully ended in success despite his mistake in scratching off the ticket.
"When I play instant games, I skip around when I scratch the ticket off," the player told the Michigan Lottery. "I thought I had scratched everything off and didn't see any winning matches, so I tossed the ticket aside."
It never hurts to recheck tickets, though, and it was that second thought that spared the $4 million winning ticket from the trash.
"The next time I stopped at a gas station, I took the ticket inside and scanned it just to make sure I hadn't missed anything," he continued. "When I scanned it and got the message to file a claim, I knew I had missed something on the ticket. When I looked it over again, I saw a spot I forgot to scratch. When I revealed I was a $4 million winner I went numb!"
The lucky winner recently visited Lottery headquarters in Lansing to claim the prize. He chose to receive it as a one-time lump sum of about $2.7 million, which will be going right into his savings.
"This incredible story is a great reminder to always double check your tickets to make sure you don't miss a winner," Lottery Commissioner Suzanna Shkreli said in a press release. "Scanning your tickets at a retailer or on the Michigan Lottery app is easy and will ensure you never miss a life-changing prize!"
According to the Lottery, the $30 "Magnificent Millions" instant game has doled out more than $31 million to Michigan players, and more than $126 million in prizes remain. In 2023 alone, players in Michigan won nearly $1.8 billion in instant games.
As of now, there are currently two out of three top prizes of $4 million remaining in the game, as well as 182 out of 222 second-tier prizes of $5,000 and 278 out of 330 third-tier prizes of $2,000.
The overall odds of winning any prize in the game are 1 in 3.47.
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Living in oblivion pays off again!
Imagine how many go uncaught.
I'm still wondering why Michigan lottery redacts the ticket numbers of all the big winners. They cite it is for "security" reasons.
It's so they can't narrow down the identity of the actual winner.
An employee could potentially identify who bought that specific ticket.
I met a guy at a convenient store who takes discarded scratch off tickets from the trash cans and ground to double check them for overlooked winnings. Hopefully, his determination has been rewarded proving a man’s trash is another man’s treasure.
no kidding I do same thing nothing
I forget the Jaoanese words but they have a ssaying that translates
born unconscious died while still asleep