From Rags to Riches with the Michigan State Lottery

Once upon a jackpot in Michigan…

“What are you going to do with all that money?”, the Michigan lottery always asks the winners. One would expect outrageous schemes that had been cocooned in the realm of day dreaming to finally unravel. One would expect the jackpot victors to turn their scandalous new riches into yachts and condos and Great Gatsby attitudes.

Nothing of the sort.

Stories about simple, middle-class Americans striking gold in the Michigan Lottery read like the modern fairy tales of a capitalist society down on its luck. The Great Lakes Storm of 1913, The Detroit Race Riot of 1943, the Fall of America’s Automaker Triad have brought the state of Wolverine to its knees. (The Decline of Detroit has even titled an eponymous Wikipedia page recording the dismantling of the city, one neighborhood at a time).

But beating the odds is that invisible chronicle of the American Pilgrim's progress hinted at between the lines of the Constitution. Squint your eyes and, all of a sudden, the state of Michigan lottery winning numbers seem less an absurd fancy and more of a tangible ticket to a world of privilege and real opportunities.

The multi-million dollar wins are meant to requite a lifetime of hardship through a meteoric ascent to ease and prosperity. So it happened to the following Michigan lottery players who cashed in on favorable odds.

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Who knows? By the power of example or fate’s recurring cycles, you may be the one to jump on the jackpot bandwagon next.

Especially since the Powerball and Mega Millions jackpots are at a record high since there has been a draught of those pot of gold winners to claim a lifetime supply of money and a place among the luckiest men on the face of the earth.

Tips and Tricks for Claiming a Michigan Lottery Win

Stranded in the Airport Terminal? Luck Incognito!

Mega Millions Michigan Lottery, Aug.3. Paul Kuharevicz, a 56-year-old Michigander, must have cursed his bad fortune when his flight from Chicago O’Hare Airport got canceled, forcing him to rent a car to get back home to Muskegon from a business trip.

As he recovered his bike from work, he stopped by Ladd’s and bought a Michigan lottery ticket. The next day, his son told him to check the numbers. He had just won $1million.

The man says that the prize will go into paying off the family house, buying a new bike, and feeding an investment fund.

  • Numbers picked: 09-17-25-63-71
  • Odds of winning Mega Millions: 1 in 259 million. The second worst odds after the Powerball jackpot.

Number Loyalty Pays Off

Fantasy Five. June 11. Americans spend an average of $251 on lottery tickets each year. David Fisher had been splurging more than that on the same set of numbers for decades when he again tried his hand at a game of Fantasy Five in the hope that his loyalty would finally pay off. And it did.

The man cashed out $326,974, and his old plans for the money caught up with him. He had promised his younger self he would gamble half of the jackpot at a casino and waste the rest in Great Gatsby fashion.

However, age had watered down his appetite for lavish and reckless spending. So David will buy instead of a 2017 Corvette and invest the remainder in a retirement fund.

  • Numbers drawn: 05-13-22-30-36
  • Odds of winning Michigan Lottery Fantasy 5: The best of them all, which is 1 in 575,757.

Dreams Come True Can Keep You Awake at Night

Fantasy Five. Aug. 7. She’s one Berrien County lucky lady, but her sleep has turned fickle ever since she had won a Michigan lottery jackpot worth $276,519.

The woman chose to remain anonymous but admitted to not sleeping a wink after she had matched all five numbers in the Fantasy 5 lottery.

Sometimes, big money can keep you on tenterhooks. The best sleeping pill in this case? Another win, we’d argue.

  • Numbers picked: 02-04-09-15-25

Sometimes, a Laissez-Faire Attitude Pays Off

Michigan Lottery’s Lucky For Life, Aug.14. Deborah Oliszewski, 58, had never played a Lucky for Life game before that fateful evening at Van’s Party Store in Eastpointe, Roseville.

The woman had just asked the clerk for the biggest draw of the night and picked out the five white balls with equal laissez-faire attitude. The following morning, her life had taken a different route as the news anchor announced a winner.

She had become the 11th Michigan Lottery player to win a lifetime steady supply of money but she went for the one-time lump sum of $390,000 instead of the annuity. Deborah’s plans involve purchasing a Harley Davidson and moving on to Upper State to become a Yooper.

  • Numbers selected: 06-15-18-36-47
  • Odds of winning Lucky for Life: 1 in 30,821,472.

Michigan Lottery Online Does Not Chip Away at the Odds

Fantasy 5 Online, July 12. Although her numbers had been July’s Willie Wonka Golden Ticket, the Bay County woman (who declined to reveal her identity) was unaware that her bank account had tripled overnight until she saw the taxable winnings box flickering.

The woman and her husband will use the $170,000 to “feather their nest” and purchase a hunting ground.

  • Numbers picked: 08-19-22-28-30

An Instant Scratch to Solve that Itch for Money

Michigan Lottery Scratch-off, July 26. Americans spend more on scratch-off lotto tickets than on movies, books, sports tickets- overall culture- combined. But, if there’s room for a big win, the return on investment could pay off.

It happened to Zach Salmen, a 23-year-old from Three Rivers, Michigan who spent $3 on a $100 Grand Cashword scratch-off ticket. He knew the $100K were his after he had scratched the first ten words.

That Michigan state lottery scratch-off became the best read of his life. The young man said he is going to use the money to buy a car and make a trip to Myrtle Beach.

Michigan Lottery Doles Out the Cheese

Let’s see what the Michigan State lottery has in the vault for us this week:

  • Since no one kept on the right side of the odds this month, the Powerball has skyrocketed to whopping half a billion dollars to be delivered to anyone with the luck of the devil on Aug.19. The stakes are higher than the biggest Powerball jackpot ever, the historical Aug.15, 2012 prize of $337 million won by Donald Lawson and his mother.
  • Odds of winning the Powerball jackpot amount to a generous 1 in 292 million.
  • Sunday’s Fantasy 5 Jackpot amounts to an estimated $105,000. Remember, these are the best odds of them all.

The easiest jackpot in the books, however, and happening right under your noses today is Lynryd Skynryd’s concert at the Michigan Lottery Amphitheatre at Freedom Hill.

The tickets amount to a modest $30.5 or $100.5 in the pavilion, and the return on investment is guaranteed.

The Southern rock band is celebrating the 40th anniversary of the 1977 plane crash when three of their members died and left Skynyrd to compose such classics as Sweet Home Alabama and Free Bird in their memory.

Lynryd Skynryd weighed their odds- granted, not with the Michigan Lottery- and beat the house. Now, they’re in the house.

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