Imagine driving around for four months with $2 million and never knowing it.
That was the case for a 29-year-old Isabella County man, who was carrying a $2 million winning instant lottery ticket without realizing.
By chance he decided to scan the ticket recently and he became the latest million-dollar winner from the Michigan Lottery in 2023.
$2 million ticket sat in car for months
The lucky winner chose to remain anonymous, but bought his winning ticket at Shepherd E-Z Mart in Shepherd.
The man bought a ticket for the “Money” instant game four months ago, but thought it wasn’t a winner. He threw the ticket into his center console with a few other non-winning tickets and went about his life for many weeks.
But, with his wife having a few tickets to cash-in, he decided to scan his losing tickets just to make sure.
“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 winner told 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!”
First ‘Money’ top prize claimed
The winner visited Lottery headquarters recently to claim their prize.
He elected to receive a one-time lump sum payment of about $1.3 million as opposed to annuity payments.
“I don’t plan on making any big purchases with the money, but rather use it as a nice financial cushion for our family,” the player said.
The Money instant lottery game has dished out more than $47 million in winnings since its launch in March.
Each ticket costs $20 and the top prize is $2 million. The Isabella County man claimed the first of three top prizes available. That means two more $2 million prizes still are out there.
48 $1 million Michigan Lottery winners in 2023
The Isabella County winner is the latest to join the millionaire club in 2023.
He is the 44th person to claim a prize of at least $1 million from the Michigan Lottery this year.
Of those 44 winners, a total of 18 have claimed at least $2 million in prizes. The top prize still remains $8.76 million on a Lotto 47 ticket back in August.
With holiday parties in full swing, it’s good to know which top prizes are available from Michigan Lottery instant games. As of last month, 70 prizes of at least $1 million were still available.
