Man wins $2 million Michigan lottery jackpot — then waits 11 months to claim his prize

About one month before a winning Michigan lottery ticket was set to expire, a man from out of state came to claim the $2.08 million jackpot.

“I purchased the ticket while I was in Michigan visiting family,” the Pennsylvania man told Michigan Lottery officials. “When I checked the winning numbers and saw I’d won the jackpot, I was in disbelief!

The 59-year-old man had matched the Lotto 47 numbers drawn on Sept. 25, 2021 — 07-12-22-24-30-37, according to an Aug. 29 news release.

But the player, who chose to remain anonymous, chose to wait nearly a full year before claiming his big win.

“I waited to claim my prize until I had a plan in place for the money,” he said, according to lottery officials.

With that plan in place, the man recently visited Michigan Lottery headquarters and was given two options: a one-time payment of about $1.3 million or annual payments for the full jackpot amount.

He chose the lump-sum payment, officials say. Now he plans to buy a new truck and save the rest of his cash for retirement.

The winning ticket was sold at Shoppers Market Plus in Warren, part of the Detroit metropolitan area.

Lotto 47 game rules state “all prizes must be claimed within one year of the date won or expire worthless.”

This story was originally published August 29, 2022 at 2:34 PM with the headline "Man wins $2 million Michigan lottery jackpot — then waits 11 months to claim his prize."