Daily lottery player wins historic prize — but has to wait to find out it was him

A man heard at his workplace that a historic lottery prize was won in Michigan — but it took him a while to realize the win was his own.

The $963,040 jackpot in the Fantasy 5 lottery game from the Michigan Lottery was the highest prize since the game debuted in 2004.

The Fantasy 5 game is one the 56-year-old Macomb County player, who remained anonymous, knows well. He plays it every day, after all.

So when he heard at work the jackpot was won, he went online to find where it was sold, according to a July 17 news release.

“When I saw the winning ticket was purchased at the store where I usually play, I called my wife and said: ‘My store sold a big winner,’” the lottery player said. “She asked if it was me, but I didn’t have my ticket on me to check.”

He had to wait until the end of his work day to check his ticket. That night, he found out he was the game’s big winner.

“I didn’t know how to feel at first because I didn’t believe it was real,” he said. “Now that it’s finally sunk in, it feels great.”

He said he plans to purchase a new vehicle, home and cottage with his winnings, according to lottery officials.

Fantasy 5 costs $1 to play and odds of winning the jackpot are 1-in-575,757.

This story was originally published July 17, 2024 at 12:13 PM with the headline "Daily lottery player wins historic prize — but has to wait to find out it was him."