Patience pays off.
That’s more than likely the second-biggest takeaway for a 61-year-old man in Roscommon County, MI, who has been playing the same set of numbers in the Michigan Lottery for 30 years.
The biggest takeaway? A cool $18.4 million when he won the lottery’s Lotto 47 jackpot at the end of July.
“I have been playing this set of numbers since 1991 and have rarely missed a drawing,” said the player, who has chosen to remain anonymous. “I’ve thought several times about trying a new set of numbers but decided each time to keep playing this one.”
The player hit the jackpot when he matched all six Lotto 47 numbers – 03, 05, 10, 20, 28 and 31 – that were drawn on July 31. He bought the winning ticket at a Family E-Z Mart in Prudenville, an unincorporated community in Roscommon County located about 28 miles south of Grayling.
“I checked my numbers before I went to bed the night of the drawing,” the player said. “When I recognized the set of numbers, I checked my ticket over at least a dozen times. I was shocked!”
The winner visited the lottery’s headquarters in Lansing to claim the big prize. According to the lottery, he then chose to receive his winnings in a one-time lump sum cash payment totaling about $11.7 million, rather than annuity payments for the full amount.
When asked what he planned to do with his winnings, the player said he would share them with family, give to different charities and save the remainder. The lottery didn’t disclose if there was any meaning behind the specific numbers the player chose.
“It still hasn’t sunk in that I won,” he said. “I am so glad I decided to stick with this set of numbers!”
Player May Have Spent $9k Over the Years
Lotto 47 is drawn twice a week, on Wednesday and Saturday evenings, at 7:29 pm ET. Numbers are drawn using a random number generator. The game requires a player to match six numbers from 1 to 47 for a chance to win a jackpot that starts at $1 million and continues to accrue until someone wins. The odds of winning with all six numbers is 1-in-10,737,573.
Each Lotto 47 ticket costs $1. For an additional $1, a player can add the Double Play option, giving them a second chance to win up to $1.5 million in the nightly Double Play drawing. For another additional $1, a player can add the EZMatch option to their ticket for a chance to win up to $500 instantly. The odds of winning a $500 prize through EZMatch is 1-in-84,000.
The overall odds of winning any prize in Lotto 47 is 1-in-47.
While it is impossible to know for certain just how much the lucky winner ultimately spent on lottery tickets over the 30 years he played, a reasonable estimate for the maximum he could have spent would be around $9,360. That’s assuming he played the same set of numbers on tickets that included the Double Play and EZMatch options, twice a week, for 30 years.
Lotto 47 was introduced by the Michigan Lottery in May 2005. It replaced Winfall, a similar game the lottery had launched just two years earlier, in January 2003. At the time, Michigan Lottery officials said Winfall was being replaced due to waning interest in the game. They also said people were avoiding playing Winfall unless the jackpot exceeded $5 million, when there was a mandatory payoff.
Years later, Winfall generated some controversy after it was revealed that a Michigan couple had figured out how to hack the odds in their favor. According to reports, the couple ultimately grossed $26 million playing Winfall and a similar game in Massachusetts.
