Michigan Man's Mistake Led to Two $1 Million Mega Millions Wins
Friday October 30th 2020A Michigan Lottery player made a lucky mistake when he accidentally purchased two Mega Millions tickets with the same numbers - leading to two $1 million prizes.
Samir Mazahem of Dearborn Heights only intended to buy one ticket for the June 9 Mega Millions draw. "I went online and bought a ticket using numbers that are family birthdays," he told Lottery officials.
However, a momentary memory slip led him to unintentionally buy a second ticket. "I forgot to save the numbers as favorites in the app, so I went back in and set them up as favorites so I could easily play them in the future," he said.
"What I didn’t realize, is that meant I would be buying a second ticket with the same numbers. Once I figured out I had bought two tickets with identical numbers, I was a little bummed but didn’t think much about it."
The purchase certainly ended up being a happy accident for Mazahem, 56 - although it took him a while to check his numbers and realize he'd won. "I recently logged into the app to check on some tickets I had bought, and that is when I saw I had two $1 million prizes pending," he said.
The Michigan Lottery allows prizes to be claimed up to a year after the draw date, so luckily Mazahem still had time to spare before his win expired.
The unexpected windfall left him quite shocked at his good fortune. "Saying that I was stunned is an understatement. I couldn’t believe it was real. It took several days for the reality to set in that my mistake had paid off to the tune of $2 million!"
Mazahem paid a visit to Lottery headquarters in Lansing to collect his amazing win. What are his plans for the money? He said he will purchase a home and the rest will go into savings.
He said winning had also brought peace of mind regarding his finances. "Winning is exciting and gives me some comfort knowing that when I retire, I will have money in the bank," he said.
A California Lottery player also has millions of reasons to smile about a Mega Millions win over the summer. Douglas Cummings recently visited Lottery headquarters to collect a $22 million jackpot he hit by matching all six numbers in the July 31 draw - 46, 69, 48, 12, 35 and the Mega Ball 23. He bought the lucky ticket at the Chevron station located at 12464 Limonite Avenue in Mira Loma, Riverside County.
Mega Millions and Powerball at $245 Million for Weekend Draws
Don't let any black cats cross your path this weekend and you might just score a spook-tacular jackpot! Mega Millions has hit $118 million for the draw tonight, Friday, October 30, and Powerball has climbed to $127 million for the next draw tomorrow. There's still time to get your tickets for both games.
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