He calls lottery office thinking there’s a glitch — and learns he won Michigan jackpot

A 78-year-old recently signed into his Michigan Lottery account and saw a pending $751,265 jackpot prize.

Surely there was a glitch, he recalled thinking.

“I told my wife that something had to be going on with my account because of the balance it was showing,” William Chamberlain Jr. told lottery officials.

He called the state’s lottery office on Monday, Aug. 15 — and learned it wasn’t an “issue” with his account. Rather, he had won the Fantasy 5 jackpot from the Aug. 12 drawing.

“I haven’t stopped shaking or been able to sleep since I won,” the Montague man said when claiming his prize. “It still doesn’t seem real.”

He bought his winning ticket online with numbers 01-06-26-28-29, officials said.

“I saw the Fantasy 5 jackpot was growing and I had $21 in my lottery account, so I bought three $5 tickets,” Chamberlain Jr., of Muskegon County, said in the news release.

He plans to pay bills and save the rest of his newfound cash.

Montague is about 55 miles northwest of Grand Rapids in western Michigan.

This story was originally published August 22, 2022 at 1:20 PM with the headline "He calls lottery office thinking there’s a glitch — and learns he won Michigan jackpot."