Oakland Co. man wins $4.38M Lotto 47 jackpot on April Fools’ Day
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April Fools' Day turned out to be a bonus for an Oakland County man after he won a $4.38 million Lotto 47 jackpot, Michigan Lottery officials announced Wednesday.
The 60-year-old player, who chose to remain anonymous, bought his winning ticket at Lathrup Village Convenience on Southfield Road in Lathrup Village. He matched the winning numbers drawn April 1: 04-08-17-19-24-45.
“I love playing Lotto 47 and I usually play every drawing,” the player said in a statement. “I scanned my ticket at the store after the drawing and got a message to file a claim at the Lottery office. When the worker told me I must have won big, I said: ‘Yeah right!’
“I checked the winning numbers when I got in my car and couldn’t believe it when I saw I had won the jackpot. I called my family to tell them the good news and they thought I was playing an April Fools’ joke on them. It took some convincing before they finally believed that I’d won!”
The player visited Lottery headquarters to claim the prize. He chose it as a one-time lump sum payment of about $3.04 million rather than annuity payments, officials said Tuesday.
“Winning still doesn’t feel real and I don’t think it will for a while,” the player said. “Once it sinks in, I will start making some plans for the money, but as of now I plan to save most of it.”
Each Lotto 47 play is $1. Players select six numbers from one to 47 for a chance to win a jackpot starting at $1 million.
Lotto 47 drawings take place on Wednesday and Saturday at 7:29 p.m. Tickets can be purchased at a retailer or online at MichiganLottery.com until 7:08 p.m. on the day of the drawing.
