Michigan Resident Wins $2M From Scratch Ticket He Ignored for Four Months

Lottery winners typically have some of the most exciting jackpot-winning tales. From stories of winners who mistakenly picked a lottery ticket at a drugstore to players completely forgetting they even participated in a draw, there’s no end to these weird happenings.

A Michigan resident has turned out to be the latest recipient of such incredible luck, winning $2 million after he forgot his ticket in his truck for about four months. The anonymous man now joins a closed list of some of the most interesting lottery winning stories with this windfall.

Here’s a rundown of this recent jackpot win and other Michigan online gambling events in the past month.

The 29-year-old man had purchased his ticket at Shepherd E-Z Mart in Shepherd, Isabella County, Michigan. He bought the scratch-off ticket for the Money instant game back in August, looked at the numbers but didn’t realize he was a potential winner. So, he dumped the ticket along with a stack of old ones in his trunk’s center console for about four months. 

Fortunately for him, in the first week of December, his wife had several tickets to check-in, hoping she’d discover any winners. He then decided to revisit his old tickets and was astonished to find out he had won a whopping $2 million jackpot.  

“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 man revealed to the Michigan Lottery. “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!” 

The Michigan winner has opted for a one-time lump sum payment of $1.3 million as against annuity payments. When he visited the Michigan Lottery headquarters to claim his prize, the Isabella County man also revealed that he won’t be splurging or making expensive purchases.

“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 said.

The Money Lottery launched in Michigan as recently as March this year. Since then, the lottery has paid out over $47 million in winnings to players. On the average, the lottery ticket costs $20 per one and has a potential top prize of $2 million. Generally, there are three $2 million prizes up for grabs, but with the jackpot win of the Isabella County man, there are two more $2 million prizes left to be won.

In total, 48 Michigan players have become millionaires from different lottery games in 2023 alone. The Isabella County man is the 44th person in the state to win at least $1 million from the Michigan Lottery. Of the 48 combined winners, 18 of them have won $2 million or more in prizes. The highest prize from the year is $8.76 million won from a Lotto 47 ticket purchased in August.

Late in November, a South African woman, Bonnie Hitchings, won $1 million after she was forced to settle for another game other than her favorite lottery. As it stands, there remain about 70 prizes of at least $1 million available to Michiganders.

With the festive season almost in full swing, the Michigan Lottery and the Michigan Gaming Control Board are warning against exposing children to gambling activities through lottery tickets.

As part of the 2023 Gift Responsibly Campaign, 66 lotteries from across the world, including the Michigan Lottery are kicking against gifting children lottery tickets. The Michigan Lottery ticket has stated that it will be sharing ads about responsible gifting of lottery tickets. Essentially, only players above the age of 18 should be given lottery tickets or allowed to purchase one.

“This includes tickets for games such as Mega Millions, Powerball, and Lucky For Life, as well as the popular instant game tickets, which often are given as gifts during the holidays,” the Michigan Lottery said in a release.