Oakland County Woman Wins $150,000 Playing the Michigan Lottery’s Magic Money Ride Instant Game Online

Posted on December 6, 2023 by MI_Lottery


An Oakland County woman is still in disbelief after winning $150,000 playing the Michigan Lottery’s Magic Money Ride instant game online.

“I play Magic Money Ride and some of the other online games a lot,” said the 41-year-old player, who chose to remain anonymous. “When the prize amount of $150,000 came up on the screen, I thought it was a joke and kept yelling: ‘No way!’ I called my husband to tell him what I’d won, and he didn’t believe it either.

“Once I got an email about claiming my prize, it started to sink in a little bit, but I am still in disbelief. I don’t think it is going to fully hit me until I have the money in the bank.”

The lucky player visited Lottery headquarters recently to claim her big prize. With her winnings, she plans to take a vacation, pay bills, and then save the remainder.

“I knew what the top prize was on the Magic Money Ride game when I started playing it, but I never imagined I would actually win it, so it feels surreal!”

Michigan Lottery players have a chance to win up to $2.1 million instantly playing online. Players also may win prizes ranging from $1 up to multimillion-dollar jackpots playing Powerball, Mega Millions, Lucky for Life, Lotto 47, and Fantasy 5 online. Through its online platform, the Lottery offers players more than 200 different games with plays ranging in price from 5 cents to $50.

More than 1 million players have registered to play the Lottery’s online games, which were launched in 2014. For more information or to play online, visit https://news.michiganlottery.com/OnlineGames.

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Extra Thankful: Clarkston Man Wins $25,000 a Year for Life Lucky for Life Prize on Thanksgiving

Posted on December 5, 2023 by MI_Lottery

Bruce Quigley holding $25,000 a year for life checkA Clarkston man was extra thankful this year after he won $25,000 a year for life playing the Michigan Lottery’s Lucky For Life game on Thanksgiving.

Bruce Quigley, 54, won the big prize when his Lucky For Life ticket matched the five white balls drawn on Nov. 23: 07-25-33-43-44. He bought his winning ticket online at MichiganLottery.com.

“I have a Lucky for Life online subscription so that I never miss a draw,” said Quigley. “The morning after the drawing, I checked my email while me and my wife were drinking coffee and I saw an email from the Lottery that I had never seen before.

“I logged in to my Lottery account and saw $390,000 pending, but I wasn’t sure how I had won it, so I thought it was some sort of joke. I told my wife: ‘I think we may have won the Lottery, but I’m not sure.’ After looking around on the website, I realized I had won $25,000 a year for life on Lucky for Life and that’s when I said to my wife: ‘We really did win the Lottery!’ It was the best Thanksgiving ever!”

Quigley visited Lottery headquarters recently to claim his prize. He chose to receive his winnings as a one-time lump sum payment of $390,000, rather than annuity payments of $25,000 a year for 20 years or life, whichever is greater. He plans to save his winnings for retirement.

“Winning this prize provides a nice financial cushion for retirement, and I feel very grateful to have won,” said Quigley.

For just $2 per play, Lucky For Life gives Lottery players a chance to win prizes ranging from $3 to a lifetime of cash. To win the game’s top prize of $1,000 a day for life, players must match all five winning numbers ranging from 1 to 48, plus one Lucky Ball ranging from 1 to 18. Players who match all five winning numbers, but not the Lucky Ball, will win $25,000 a year for life. Drawings take place at 10:38 p.m. seven days-a-week. Tickets may be purchased at Lottery retailers across the state and online at MichiganLottery.com.

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Wayne County Educator Wins Excellence in Education Award from the Michigan Lottery

Posted on December 5, 2023 by MI_Lottery

Yolanda Tait-Sain holding $2,000 Excellence in Education checkA Wayne County educator known for guiding her students to be successful and hardworking adults has been honored with an Excellence In Education award from the Michigan Lottery.

The award winner, Yolanda Tait-Sain, teaches Pre-K at Hutchinson Elementary School. The school is part of Detroit Public Community Schools.

The Michigan Lottery established the Excellence In Education awards in 2014 to recognize outstanding public-school educators across the state during the school year.

Winners of the weekly award receive a $2,000 cash prize. At the end of the school year, one of the weekly award winners will be selected to receive the Lottery’s Educator of the Year award and will receive a $10,000 cash prize.

Each winner also is featured in a news segment on the Lottery’s media partner stations: WXYZ-TV in Detroit, FOX 17 in Grand Rapids, FOX 47 in Lansing, WNEM-TV in Saginaw, and WWTV-TV in Traverse City. The news segment featuring Tait-Sain will air this evening.

Tait-Sain says her love of working with children led her to a career in education.

“I have always loved working with children. I love helping youth discover new things.”

Tait-Sain says her favorite activity to do with students is reading and telling stories.

“I love reading and telling stories to my students because it helps them use their imagination to bring the story to life.”

Tait-Sain was nominated for the award by a former student.

“Yolanda has been an important figure in my life since I was in fifth grade, when she came to work at Hutchinson. She has not only provided me a great education, but also all my children. Yolanda has spent the last 36 years being a great educator and leader and guiding me and my children to be successful and hardworking adults. I love and appreciate everything she has done and continues to do for our youth.”

Tait-Sain earned a bachelor’s degree and master’s degree from Western Michigan University. She has been an educator for 36 years, all at Hutchinson Elementary.

Excellence in Education award nominees are evaluated on the following criteria:

  • Excellence – Their work consistently helps students and/or their schools or school districts advance to higher levels of academic achievement.
  • Dedication – They consistently go above and beyond expectations to help students succeed.
  • Inspiration – Their work inspires others around them to exceed expectations either academically or professionally.
  • Leadership – They demonstrate clear leadership skills in their positions with their school or school districts.
  • Effectiveness – The nominee’s work has clear and positive results on the educational advancement of students within the school or school district.
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Wayne County Woman Wins $1 Million Lotto 47 Jackpot from the Michigan Lottery

Posted on December 4, 2023 by MI_Lottery

Winning TicketA Wayne County woman won a $1 million Lotto 47 jackpot using a special set of lottery numbers she has been playing for more than 20 years!

The lucky 63-year-old player, who chose to remain anonymous, matched the winning Lotto 47 numbers on Oct. 28: 02-05-08-10-17-29. She bought her winning ticket at Baas Mini Mart, located at 31301 Five Mile Road in Livonia.

“I play Lotto 47 every week using the special set of lottery numbers that I’ve been playing for more than 20 years,” said the player. “I check my tickets every morning after the drawing, and when I saw I matched all the numbers, all I could do was stand there in shock. I’ve been waiting until I got the check to tell my family and friends, because I still don’t believe it’s real. It’s been two weeks and I still can’t wrap my head around it!”

The lucky player recently visited Lottery headquarters to claim the big prize. She chose to receive her prize as a one-time lump sum payment of about $693,000, rather than annuity payments for the full amount. With her winnings, she plans to pay bills, share with her family, and then save the remainder for retirement.

Each Lotto 47 play is only $1. Players select six numbers from one to 47 for a chance to win a jackpot starting at $1 million and that grows until someone wins it. For an additional $1 per play, Double Play may be added to a Lotto 47 ticket, giving players a second chance to win up to $1.5 million in the nightly Double Play drawing. For an additional $1 per game, players may add EZMatch to their ticket for a chance to win up to $500 instantly. Lotto 47 drawings take place on Wednesday and Saturday 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.

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Michigan Lottery Warns Public to Be Aware of Prize Scams

Posted on December 4, 2023 by MI_Lottery

Scam AlertThe Michigan Lottery is warning the public to be aware of scam artists claiming to be lottery agents or prize winners.

The Michigan Lottery processes all prize claims for free, and players must have a valid winning ticket to claim a prize. If you haven’t bought a Lottery ticket or played a Lottery game, there’s no way you could win a prize.

To check if a lottery prize, offer, or promotion is legitimate, members of the public may contact the Lottery’s Player Relations Division at 844-887-6836, option 2, or via email at onlinehelp@michiganlottery.com.

Lottery prize scams surface from time-to-time and have been known to pop up around the holidays. The public should always remain vigilant.

Generally, there are two types of lottery prize scams:

  • A person gets a letter, email, text, or phone call to inform them that they’ve won a big lottery prize but must pay a fee to collect the prize. If the person agrees, the scam artist convinces them to mail a cashier’s check, make an electronic funds transfer, or even arranges a meeting to get the money in cash.
  • A person is contacted by mail, email, text, or phone call by someone claiming to be a lottery prize winner. The scam artist tells the person they will share their prize if the person sends money to them. If the person agrees, the scam artist convinces them to mail a cashier’s check, make an electronic funds transfer, or even arranges a meeting to get the money in cash.

In some cases, after getting money from the victim, the scam artist comes back asking for more for unexpected processing costs or fees or uses some other excuse to try to get more money from the victim.

Unfortunately, the more money the victim supplies, the longer the scam will continue.

If you believe you have been the victim of such a scam, please contact your local law enforcement agency.

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