Chris Sparks and his wife, Renee, holding $331,239 big check
A Monroe County man said “everything got easier in an instant” after finding out he won a $331,239 Fantasy 5 jackpot from the Michigan Lottery!
Chris Sparks, of Carleton, matched the Fantasy 5 numbers in the Aug. 4 drawing to win the big prize: 03-23-25-29-32. He bought his winning ticket online at MichiganLottery.com. Carleton is about 30 miles southwest of Detroit.
“I had some money in my online account from a previous Fantasy 5 win, so I used it to buy another ticket,” said Sparks, 58. “I was talking to my wife later that night when a I got a notification that I’d received an email from the Michigan Lottery. When I saw the prize amount in the email I yelled: ‘You’ve got to be joking!’ I had to log in to my account and check my balance to make sure it was real.
“The next morning when my wife woke up, she said: ‘Did you win the lottery last night or was that all just a dream?’ It still hasn’t fully hit us yet.”
Sparks recently visited Lottery headquarters to claim his prize. With his winnings, he plans to buy a new truck, share with people close to him, and then save the remainder.
“It’s hard to explain the feeling of winning a prize like this. It’s like everything got easier in an instant,” said Sparks.
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. For an additional $1 per play, Double Play may be added to a Fantasy 5 ticket, giving players a second chance to win up to $110,000 in the nightly Double Play drawing. Players may win prizes in the regular nightly drawing, the Double Play drawing, or both. Fantasy 5 players select five numbers from one to 39. Players who match all five Fantasy 5 numbers drawn win a jackpot that starts at $100,000.
Fantasy 5 drawings are held seven days a week at 7:29 p.m. Tickets may be purchased at a retailer or online at MichiganLottery.com until 7:08 p.m. on the day of the drawing.