DETROIT – A Detroit man thought he was being pranked when he saw his Michigan Lottery account balance after he won a $25,000 a year for life prize.
Micale Garland, 64, matched the five white balls drawn on April 28 (16-19-20-33-40) to win the prize, according to the Michigan Lottery.
“I have been playing Lucky For Life for a few years and I always buy my tickets online,” Garland told lottery officials. “When I saw the email from the Lottery about claiming a prize, I logged into my account and thought I was being pranked when I saw my account balance. It wasn’t until I called the Lottery and confirmed the prize with them that I believed I’d really won. It still feels like I’m living in a dream!”
The 64-year-old decided to claim his prize as a one-time lump sum payment of $390,000, rather than payments of $25,000 a year for 20 years, or life (whichever is greater).
Lucky for Life tickets are $2 per play and give players the chance to win prizes from $3 to a lifetime of cash.
If a player matches the five winning numbers ranging from 1 to 48, and one Lucky Ball ranging from 1 to 18, they win the game’s top prize of $1,000 a day for life, and if they match the five number, but not the lucky ball, they win $25,000 a year for life, according to the Michigan Lottery.
Lucky for Life drawings take place every night at 10:38 p.m.
