LANSING, July 23, 1998 – Michigan Lottery winners are turning up all over the metro Detroit area, claiming prizes up to $13 million! Recent winners include the following:
- An anonymous Grosse Pointe Park man won a $13 million Michigan Lotto jackpot;
- Robert Johnson of Detroit won $150,000 in The Big Game;
- an anonymous Detroit woman won the $250,000 Keno top prize;
- a man from Harper Woods collected the $250,000 top prize in the "High Roller" instant game;
- winners from Detroit and Wyandotte each won the $100,000 top prize in the Cash 5 game.
A Grosse Pointe Park man matched all six winning numbers in the July 8 Michigan Lotto drawing, winning a $13 million jackpot! The winner, who requested total anonymity, collected his first installment of $520,000 (before taxes), to be followed by 24 annual installments.
After purchasing a $5 five-wager Michigan Lotto ticket for the July 8 drawing, the winner automatically received a free "Smartplay" easy-pick ticket for that same drawing. The "Smartplay" ticket matched all six numbers: 11, 28, 31, 34, 39 and 47.
The winning Michigan Lotto "Smartplay" ticket was purchased at Jerry’s Club Party Store, 383 Kercheval Ave., in Grosse Pointe Farms.
Robert Johnson of Detroit, who joked he’s been playing Lottery games "forever," didn’t think he’d ever win the Lottery. In fact, Johnson wasn’t even going to check his ticket for the June 2 drawing. Thanks to his wife, he did, and now the Johnsons are $150,000 richer!
Johnson picked Big Game numbers randomly and purchased a ticket at Zeke’s Liquor Shoppe Inc., 13635 W. 7 Mile Road, in Detroit. He matched the first five winning numbers drawn June 2 – 9, 19, 28, 30, 31, and the Big Money Ball number, 19 – to win the game’s $150,000 prize.
"I wasn’t even going to check my ticket until my wife insisted," said Johnson. "I couldn’t believe we won, and my wife went bonkers!"
Johnson, a retiree and avid gardener, said he would use The Big Game winnings to celebrate his 50th wedding anniversary "in style."
Another Detroit resident correctly matched 10 of her Keno numbers – 7, 20, 39, 41, 47, 48, 64, 70, 71 and 78 – to those in the June 15 drawing. The prize for matching all 10 numbers in the Keno game is $250,000!
"I was just shocked," said the winner, who requested anonymity. "I got six numbers, then seven, and I was happy thinking I’d won $25. Then I looked at my ticket more closely and couldn’t believe it."
A regular Michigan Lottery player since 1972, the winner said she has no immediate plans for her winnings other than to share with her church and a few charities.
The winning Keno "easy pick" ticket was purchased at Lincoln Park Palace, 900 Fort St., in Lincoln Park.
In addition, a Harper Woods man collected the $250,000 top prize in the "High Roller" instant game. The winning ticket was purchased at M & A Eastland Liquor, 17001 E. 8 Mile Road, in Eastpointe.
In Detroit, an anonymous woman matched all five numbers – 18, 21, 24, 29 and 34 – in the May 21 Cash 5 drawing for the $100,000 top prize. The winning "easy pick" ticket was purchased at East Seven Mile Party Store, 11395 E. 7 Mile Road, in Detroit.
A Wyandotte man also won the $100,000 prize for matching all five numbers in the Cash 5 game – 1, 7, 21, 27 and 39 – this time in the June 11 drawing. The winning "easy pick" ticket was purchased at Dannys Foods #6, 3901 Fort St., in Wyandotte.
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