Steven Cook said he was “very surprised” when he checked his Lottery numbers and found out that he had matched five numbers in the Powerball game. He reasoned that before he got excited, he would double check to be sure. So he took his ticket to a local retailer and asked him to check. The message came back that he needed to contact a Lottery office. Cook thought he had lost and that was the end of it. However, the retailer assured him that he was probably a big winner, but neither of them knew that the prize was $1,000,000! 

Cook’s numbers, which he got on an Easy Pick ticket, were drawn in the July 7 Powerball game. When he claimed his $1,000,000 prize on July 23, the truck driver and his wife Kathy still couldn’t quite believe their good fortune. The most they had won playing the Lottery in the past had been $7.

The couple intends to use their surprise windfall to invest in their farm and maybe take some little weekend getaways around the state of Michigan.

The winning ticket was sold at Marshall Shell located at 15423 Old U.S. Hwy 27 N. in Marshall.

Over 95 cents of every dollar spent on Lottery tickets is returned to the state in the form of contributions to the state School Aid Fund, prizes to players and commissions to retailers. In fiscal year 2011, the contribution to schools was over $727.3 million. Since its inception in 1972, the Lottery has contributed over $16 billion to education in Michigan. 

For information on all Lottery games, please visit the Lottery’s Web site at   www.michiganlottery.com. 

“The Michigan Lottery. All across the state good things happen.”

Contact:  Andi Brancato, PR Director  517-335-5648
Agency:  Michigan Lottery Public Relations