Wrong office, right prize: million-dollar detour
By Kate Northrop
MILLBURY, Mass. — A Massachusetts woman mistook her $1 million lottery prize for a $10,000 one, leading her on a hunt to the correct Massachusetts Lottery office after she visited the wrong one.
Massachusetts Lottery staff at one office location not only helped a winner sort out her travel troubles, but they gave her some much more exciting news as well — she had won a prize way bigger than she originally thought.
Michelle Sloan of Worcester was announced as a $1 million second-tier prize winner by the Lottery last week, but her path to the claims office was less than simple.
While at Village Knoll Variety on West Main Street in Millbury, Sloan purchased a $10 "$2,000,000 Diamond Cashword" scratch-off ticket. Once she scratched it off, she dutifully headed to one of the Lottery's offices to file a claim.
Only, it was the wrong office for the prize she won. Thinking it was a lesser prize of $10,000, she visited Lottery staff at their Worcester regional office, but there she learned it was worth a whopping $1 million instead.
"I was positive it was only ten grand," Sloan told the Lottery. "I just can't believe it. I'm still so shocked!"
Lottery officials at the Worcester location directed her to visit Lottery headquarters in Dorchester to claim the much larger prize, a little over an hour away by car. She successfully claimed her prize and opted to take the cash option of $650,000 before taxes.
With her winnings, Sloan says she plans to invest and help her children.
The retailer will receive a $10,000 bonus from the Lottery for selling the winning ticket.
Following Sloan's win, there are seven out of ten second-tier prizes of $1 million left in the $10 "$2,000,000 Diamond Cashword" scratch-off game, which launched in January. Four out of five top prizes of $2 million and 197 out of 250 third-tier prizes of $10,000 also remain.
The overall odds of winning any prize in the game are 1 in 3.26.
(Click to display full-size in gallery)
She doesn't look that enthralled about it in that picture. I would rather see a picture of the ticket she played than that fake check though.
Mabye she still thinks it's only 10 thousand
Probably cuz it ended up being $650k before taxes instead of the actual $1M like she thought on the way to the office. Negative news tend to take the front seat.
It's the same as when someone matches 5/6 and wins $1M but misses out on the big jackpot on that one last number.
wait I did same thing thought it says I won 5 dollars no I won 10 dollars