A lucky ticket printing error allowed a guy from Illinois to win $25,000 per year for the rest of his life!
Michael Sopejstal, who resides in Illinois, said that every few weeks, he makes the trip to Michigan, passing through Indiana on the way, to dine at his preferred restaurant. In addition to that, he makes it a point to purchase a Lucky for Life ticket, good for 10 or 20 draws.
Fortunate Misprint
According to what Sopejstal reported to the Michigan Lottery, a shopkeeper working at a GoLo petrol station made a mistake and printed a ticket with 10 lines for a single draw by accident on September 17. Sopejstal confirmed to the shop that he was still interested in purchasing it.
Apparently, the five white balls on his ticket matched those chosen on September 17 from the Michigan Lottery, Business Insider said.
"I checked my ticket one morning and saw that I had won $25,000 a year for life. I immediately started thinking about all the things I could do with the money and whether I wanted to take the lump sum or annuity option. It was an amazing feeling," he said.
The 60-year-old recently went to Lottery headquarters to pick up his award, CNN reported. He decided to choose the one-time lump sum payout of $390,000 rather than the annual payment of $25,000 for 20 years or for life, whichever was larger.
Sopejstal has informed the Lottery officials that he intends to spend his prize money on travels, with the remainder of the money being saved.
Around 20 states and Washington, DC, offer Lucky for Life as a kind of legalized gambling. Prizes start at $3 and go all the way up to $1,000 each day for life as the grand prize.
Perfect Timing
Another happy accident happened this month when a lady from Massachusetts ended up winning $25,000 a year for the rest of her life after purchasing a Lucky for Life lottery ticket when she intended to buy a Powerball or Mega Millions ticket.
According to USA Today, the winner of the multi-state Lucky for Life game is Keisha James. On October 19, James won the lottery when the first five numbers she picked were drawn.
James claimed that she planned to buy Powerball tickets but, upon learning that there would be no drawing that evening, switched to buying Lucky for Life tickets.
She went to the Massachusetts State Lottery office on November 15 to collect her award. She decided on the annuity plan without hesitation, and from now on, she will get $25,000 each year (before taxes) throughout her life.
James told the Lottery that the money was a great graduation present after finishing an academic program and that she wanted to spend part of it on a vacation.
