Couple ignores lottery ticket for 7 weeks — it was worth $3.4 million

Imagine having a lottery ticket worth millions of dollars just sitting on your desk. Every day, you walk past it without knowing. That’s exactly what happened for one Australian couple who went about their normal lives for seven weeks before finally checking their Set for Life lottery ticket. When they finally did get around to checking it, they found the forgotten ticket was worth AU$4.8 million, or about $3.4 million in U.S. dollars. A shocking surprise for the lucky couple who thankfully never lost the ticket in those seven weeks.

It just sat there for seven weeks

The winning ticket was for the Set for Life drawing on July 1, 2026, in Australia. This winning ticket happened to be the only entry to win the game’s division one prize that night.

Seems exciting, right? Indeed it was, but there was just one problem: the couple who purchased the winning ticket had no idea.

According to 7NEWS, the ticket sat on a desk inside the Sydney couple’s home for seven weeks before they finally decided to see if it was a winner. For that July 1 drawing, the main winning numbers 2, 14, 18, 25, 27, 30, and 39, with supplementary numbers 19 and 24.

"I can't believe it. I had no idea," the woman told The Lott after learning about the win. "This ticket has just been sitting on my desk at home the whole time."

The lucky woman has had checking the ticket on her to-do list for a while.

She said, "I kept saying, 'I've got to go check this ticket' … and today we did.”

While the couple may have procrastinated, it certainly didn’t hurt them in the end.

The big win comes with monthly payments

Unlike many of the lottery jackpots here in the United States, where the winner can choose between lump sum or annuity payments, Australia’s Set for Life lives up to its name.

The couple won AU$4.8 million, which is to be paid out as AU$20,000 per month for 20 years. That works out to be a little over $14,000 per month in U.S. dollars.

According to the woman, she had only been playing Set for Life for about six months before hitting the game’s top prize. Despite being new to the game, she said she had a feeling a big win was coming her way. However, she just let the ticket sit there for seven weeks?

Now, the couple is already starting to plan for the future and what they will do with this extra money each month.

The lucky winner said they’ve worked hard “all our lives,” so she and her partner may be able to retire thanks to this big win. She said winning the jackpot was “literally a dream come true.”

She added, "This has changed our lives. Things like this just don't happen to people like us."

Lucky retailer has another unclaimed jackpot

The couple purchased the winning ticket at Nextra Kiama. This isn’t the first multimillion-dollar Set for Life ticket the retailer has sold.

According to news.com.au, another ticket purchased at this same lottery retailer won the same AU$4.8 million top prize in November 2024.

However, there’s one big difference between the two wins: This couple took seven weeks to claim their prize, and the earlier winners have gone almost 100 weeks without claiming their prize. Yes, the winners of that November 2024 drawing have yet to claim their prize.

These latest winners almost added their name to the list of tickets being unclaimed. However, seven weeks of waiting ended with one very memorable ticket check and the chance of getting over $14,000 every month for the next 20 years.

Enjoy playing the lottery, and please remember to play responsibly.