Michigan Lottery Player Loses Jackpot By One Number, Then Wins $800K The Next Day

Posted on: August 11, 2024, 01:55h. 

Last updated on: August 12, 2024, 07:43h.

Ed Silverstein @casinoorgedsilv Read More

Expertise: Legal, Tribal Gaming.

A Michigan man recently was so close to the big win in the Fantasy 5 game in his state’s lottery. He had hit four of five numbers.

He earned $100, and was excited for the cash. But the 53-year-old Macomb County resident admitted he was “bummed” he didn’t hit the big jackpot.

He tried his luck again the following day for the same game. He hit all of the winning numbers for the July 27 drawing: 02-05-17-21-30.

After the drawing, he got an email from the lottery. It said he won $1.

“I thought that was all I’d won, until another email came through telling me to log into my account to claim my prize,” the unnamed man recalled in a statement released last week.

When I logged in and saw $795,905 pending, my first thought was that it was a scam. Now, that I am at the lottery office claiming my prize, it’s starting to hit me that this is real.”

He had purchased the ticket online from the MichiganLottery.com website.

The lucky winner plans to invest his jackpot.

Fantasy 5 Is Favorite

He explains that he likes to play the Michigan lottery’s Fantasy 5 game.

I always buy Fantasy 5 tickets if the jackpot is over $250,000,” he said. “I usually buy my tickets in-store, but the night of the drawing I realized I’d forgotten to buy some, so I logged onto MichiganLottery.com and bought two.”

A Fantasy 5 game is $1. For an additional $1, EZmatch is added so players can win up to $500. For $1 more per play, Double Play is added, giving players a second chance, to win up to $110,000 in the nightly Double Play drawing.

Fantasy 5 players select five numbers between 1 and 39. Players who match all five numbers win at least $100K.

Fantasy 5 drawings are held seven days a week at 7:29 p.m.

Michigan Lottery Commissioner Suzanna Shkreli points out that the online option gives players a convenient way to play when they can’t get to a retailer.

Powerball Win

Michigan saw a huge win earlier this year. On New Year’s Day, a single Powerball ticket sold in Michigan matched the five drawn white balls and the red Powerball.

A Michigan trio won an $842.4M jackpot. The winners remain anonymous but revealed they are part of a “Breakfast Club.”

They got the ticket on Jan. 1 at the Food Castle in Grand Blanc, Mich., some 60 miles north of Detroit.