GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — The Michigan Lottery confirms a winner has come forward to claim a $1 million Powerball prize before it expired Monday. In fact, they came forward a month ago.
A spokesperson for the state entity told News 8 that a lottery club from Oakland County took home the prize.
The five-person Rak Pack lottery club matched the five white balls in the Oct. 29, 2022, drawing. The winning ticket was sold at a Shell gas station in New Buffalo. As of Oct. 26, 2023, the Michigan Lottery’s website still showed the prize as unclaimed and set to expire on Monday, Oct. 30 if it wasn’t claimed.
The lottery spokesperson said that was mistakenly left up. The notice should have been pulled after the team visited Michigan Lottery headquarters in Lansing to claim their prize in late September.
Gregory Rakowicz, a representative for the Rak Pack, said the group pooled some money to go after the soaring Powerball jackpot.
“A few members of our family threw in money and bought several Powerball tickets since the jackpot was at $825 million,” Rakowicz said in a statement provided by Michigan Lottery. “I checked our tickets the morning after the drawing over a cup of coffee. When I saw we matched five numbers for a $1 million prize, I started shaking. I kept checking the numbers on our ticket and the winning numbers to make sure I was seeing things right.”
Rakowicz said the group plans to use their winnings on home improvements and paying off student loans, while keeping enough to pad their savings.
If a prize isn’t claimed within one year, the ticket is considered expired, and the prize is rolled into the School Aid Fund. There are still two other unclaimed major prizes, according to the Michigan Lottery website. A $1 million prize from the March 17, 2023, Mega Millions draw. The matching numbers were 26-28-29-39-49 with a MegaBall of 25. That ticket was sold at a CVS Pharmacy in Southfield.
A Club Keno prize worth more than $250,000 is also in limbo. The drawing was on April 30, 2023. The winning ticket was submitted at Vitale’s Sports Lounge in Comstock Park.
