82-year-old player holds onto ticket "for longer than planned"
By Kate Northrop
PONTIAC, Mich. — A Michigan woman waited nearly until the last minute to claim a $131,121 Fantasy 5 lottery jackpot, just weeks before it was due to expire.
An 82-year-old Michigan resident brought in a winning ticket for a $131,121 Fantasy 5 lottery jackpot to the Michigan Lottery just weeks away from its expiration ticket.
The player, who requested to remain anonymous, purchased a Fantasy 5 ticket last year at Pike Food Center on East Pike Street in Pontiac and matched all five numbers in the drawing on Dec. 3, 2024: 7, 10, 21, 22, and 26.
"I occasionally play Fantasy 5 because a friend once told me, 'You can't win if you don't play,'" the woman told the Lottery. "After the drawing, I scanned the ticket at the store and got a message to see the clerk. I went home and checked the winning numbers and that's when I realized I'd won the jackpot. It was a pleasant surprise!"
Rather than plan a trip to Lottery headquarters in Lansing right away, she decided to store the ticket away to claim the prize at a later time.
"Once I found out I won, I planned to hold onto the ticket for little a while before claiming, and then life got crazy, so I ended up holding onto it for longer than I planned," the winner explained.
With less than three weeks left to claim it, she finally visited the Lottery and secured her jackpot.
"It's a relief to finally be cashing it in!" she added.
She told Lottery staff that she plans on sharing her winnings with her family.
The Fantasy 5 jackpot currently stands at $179,000 for the next drawing on Monday, Dec. 1. Tickets cost $1 each.
Players may add the EZmatch feature to their ticket for an additional $1 per play for a chance to win up to $500 or the Double Play feature for a second chance to win up to $110,000 in the nightly Double Play drawing. Players may win prizes in the regular nightly drawing, the Double Play drawing, or both. Fantasy 5 drawings take place every day at 7:29 p.m. Eastern Time.
The winning numbers, jackpot, and prize amounts can be found on Lottery Post's Michigan Lottery Results page right after each drawing.
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There's a real gambler, 82 years old and she waits until the deadline to cash the ticket !!!
She definitely not lacking money.
Good for her, Congrats and enjoy.
Right because that's cutting it close. Congratulations to her