The old saying that it only takes one ticket to win proved true for a Battle Creek man who won a $3.39 million Lotto 47 jackpot from the Michigan Lottery.
The lucky player, who chose to remain anonymous, matched the winning Lotto 47 numbers drawn April 20: 04-06-11-17-23-31. He bought his winning ticket at the Meijer gas station, located at 1174 Centerville Road in Sturgis. Sturgis is about 45 miles south of Kalamazoo.
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“I play Lotto 47 regularly and always buy one ticket for the drawing,” said the 45-year-old winner. “Store clerks usually say: ‘Just one?’ and I always tell them: ‘It only takes one to win.’
“I didn’t realize I had won for a couple of weeks. I stack my tickets up, and then my wife scans them on the app to see if we won. When she scanned this ticket, she told me we’d won but I was certain she was just joking with me. When she started crying, I knew it wasn’t a joke at all.”
The winner visited Lottery headquarters recently to claim his big prize. He chose to receive his prize as one lump-sum payment of about $2.3 million, rather than annuity payments for the full amount.
“For now, I am going to put this in the bank and let it all sink in. Winning is just an amazing blessing,” the winner said.
Each Lotto 47 play is only $1. Players select six numbers from one to 47 for a chance to win a jackpot starting at $1 million and that grows until someone wins it. For an additional $1 per play, Double Play may be added to a Lotto 47 ticket, giving players a second chance to win up to $1.5 million in the nightly Double Play drawing. For an additional $1 per game, players may add EZMatch to their ticket for a chance to win up to $500 instantly. Lotto 47 drawings take place on Wednesday and Saturday at 7:29 p.m. Tickets may be purchased at a retailer or online at MichiganLottery.com until 7:08 p.m. on the day of the drawing.