Ramona Biegas, of Garden City, collected her $283,109 Fantasy 5 jackpot at Lottery headquarters Wednesday.
With her three daughters in town for a family reunion, Ramona Biegas knew she was going to have a great weekend. Winning a $283,109 Fantasy 5 jackpot from the Michigan Lottery made it even sweeter for the Garden City woman.
Biegas matched the winning numbers – 13-22-25-28-29 – in Friday’s Fantasy 5 drawing to win her big prize. She bought her ticket at the Meijer located at 37201 Warren Road in Westland.
“It was the first time in six years that my three daughters have all been in town at the same time,” Biegas said. “We had planned a girls’ day and got pedicures before stopping at Meijer to pick up some last-minute supplies for a barbeque. I wandered over to the Lottery counter and picked my five numbers.”
Predictably, the numbers she chose to play were related to her family. She played her birthdate and the birthdates for her grandchildren, husband, mother. When she checked her numbers that evening, she could not believe her eyes and had her husband and daughters confirm she had won.
“I ran to get my husband, Tim, after I checked the numbers on MichiganLottery.com,” she said. “He couldn’t believe his eyes either, so we called in our daughter Denise to confirm what we were reading. We are all still in shock.”
The family decided to hide the winning ticket in their basement for safe keeping until they could visit the Lottery office to collect their winnings. That move almost proved disastrous when a water heater problem flooded the basement.
“Thankfully, we hid the ticket up high, but it was a tense few minutes for everyone when my husband discovered the water in the basement,” Biegas said.
After some weekend water heater repairs, Biegas visited Lottery headquarters with two of her daughters and three grandchildren on Wednesday to collect her big prize. With her winnings, she plans to pay off her home and take a trip with her husband to Las Vegas.
Fantasy 5 has been producing jackpot winners at a sizzling rate. Lucky players have won 35 jackpots totaling more than $5.2 million in prizes over the past 15 weeks.
The winning ticket holders from the April 26, May 17 and July 21 Fantasy 5 drawings have yet to claim those prizes. The lucky ticket holders should contact the Lottery’s Public Relations Division at (517) 373-1237 to set up an appointment to claim their prize. Tickets for Fantasy 5 are valid for one year from the drawing date. Prizes of more than $50,000 must be claimed at the Lottery headquarters in Lansing.
Each Fantasy 5 play is only $1. For an additional $1 per play, EZmatch may be added to a Fantasy 5 ticket, giving players a chance to win up to $500 instantly. Fantasy 5 players select five numbers from one to 39. Players who match all five Fantasy 5 numbers drawn win a jackpot guaranteed to start at $100,000. Fantasy 5 drawings are held seven days a week at 7:29 p.m.
