How can a losing lottery ticket earn a big prize? It happened for a Michigan man who played a multimillion-dollar lottery game several times and lost—but still won $100,000.
The Wayne County man, who chose to remain anonymous, cashed in using his previously unsuccessful tickets as part of the Michigan Lottery’s $6 million jackpot second-chance drawings.
“I [had] been playing the $6 million jackpot game a lot, so when I learned there was a second-chance component to the game, I figured I might as well give it a try,” the player told the Michigan Lottery.
Players can enter by scanning non-winning tickets on the state lottery’s mobile app ticket scanner for each of the 10 drawings’ entry periods, according to the Michigan Lottery’s website.
Each non-winning $6 million jackpot ticket is eligible for a second shot at winning a prize ranging from $500 to $100,000.
The 43-year-old winner was selected in a random drawing on April 27.
He didn’t believe he’d won at first.
“I got an email from the lottery one day informing me that I’d won a $100,000 prize,” he said in a news release. “I thought it was a joke.”
He called to confirm whether the email was a scam—and it was the real deal.
“I was shocked!” he said. “Winning still doesn’t seem real, and I don’t think it will sink in for a while.”
The player, who recently visited the Michigan Lottery headquarters to claim the money, said he plans to save his winnings.
A 44-year-old woman from St. Clair County, Michigan, won $100,000 on a losing lottery ticket in April, according to a news release.
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