Dad calls his kids after life-changing Michigan lottery win. ‘They didn’t believe it’

A 64-year-old father who enjoys playing the Lotto 47 game in Michigan always uses his “special sets of numbers” when buying his tickets.

Using those numbers — made up of his kids’ birth dates — recently resulted in a life-changing jackpot win, according to a Feb. 9 news release from the Michigan Lottery.

The numbers 02-09-20-22-24-39 were drawn during the Jan. 7 Lotto 47 drawing — an exact match to one of the man’s special number sets.

“I was checking the winning numbers online the day after the drawing, and when I realized I’d won the jackpot, I couldn’t believe it,” the man, who chose to remain anonymous, told lottery officials. “I called my kids right away to tell them the good news, and they didn’t believe it either.”

The dad was given two options when claiming his prize: a one-time payment of about $797,000, or annual payments worth the full prize amount. He chose the lump-sum payment, officials said.

He plans to pay bills, share with family and save the rest of his winnings, according to the release.

The winning ticket, which cost $1, was sold at a Kroger grocery store in Pinckney, about 60 miles northwest of Detroit.

This story was originally published February 10, 2023 at 2:00 PM with the headline "Dad calls his kids after life-changing Michigan lottery win. ‘They didn’t believe it’."