TOPEKA, KAN. – A Marshall County couple arrived at the Kansas Lottery headquarters in Topeka today to claim their Lucky for Life top prize of $1,000 a day for life! The winners, who chose to remain anonymous, matched all five numbers and the Lucky Ball on a Quick Pick ticket in Monday’s Lucky for Life drawing.
“For ten years now, we’ve bought tickets twice a week for the draw games,” said the winners. “For some games we pick our own numbers, and on other games we just do Quick Picks. We’re glad we did a Quick Pick this time for sure!”
The winning numbers were drawn on Monday night, but the couple didn’t check their tickets until Wednesday, even though they knew that someone had won the big prize.
“I got a push notification on my phone that the Lucky for Life top prize was hit in Kansas, but I didn’t check it against my numbers. I just went to work,” said the winner. “We keep all of our tickets on a clip next to the refrigerator, and we check them once or twice a week.”
“When we finally remembered to check the tickets, I saw that Lucky for Life ticket and figured out that we were the winner. I showed my wife, and then she made me check it one more time. We couldn’t believe it at first,” said the winner. “It still hasn’t fully sunk in yet. It truly is a life-changing thing, and we just had it clipped next to the fridge for a couple days,” the winners said with a laugh.
The couple opted to take the cash option instead of the annuity prize, which is $5.75 million dollars before taxes. The prize is large enough for both of them to consider retiring early and quitting their jobs.
“We’re both close enough to retirement that this win will make it possible for us to retire early,” the winner said. “Now we just have to figure out what we’re going to do with our spare time!”
The couple say they plan to use their newfound free time and money to get back into old hobbies and to take a few trips they’ve been putting off.
“We don’t really know what the future holds for us,” the winners said. “But we’ve got a lot to think about, and plenty of options. It’s a great problem to have!”
The winning ticket was sold at CJ Express 1 at 1202 11th Road in Marysville. Lucky for Life draws every Monday and Thursday nights. The cutoff for purchasing a Lucky for Life ticket is 7:59 p.m. on draw nights.
For more information on games, promotions, winning numbers, and unclaimed prizes, visit our website www.kslottery.com. Players are invited to submit all their winning and non-winning tickets in the Kansas Lottery PlayOn® Players Loyalty program to earn points for drawing entries and a chance to win cash and other prizes!