News writer
Many people talk about manifestation. They manifested something to happen in their life. So, my brain got thinking at the beginning of 2025. I was going to win a lottery jackpot in 2025! Yes, I was going to manifest this big win. I decided to track my journey, so follow along with my 2025 quest to win the lottery!
Manifesting a big win?
We all start a new year with resolutions. Mine, as weird as it sounds, was to win a lottery jackpot in the new year. I mean, everyone else is doing it, so why not me?
That was my thinking, so that is the mission I set out on. The year started with high hopes and big money.
I am located in Michigan, so I decided to play all the big draw games that the Michigan Lottery offered. This includes Fantasy 5, Lotto 47, Powerball, Mega Millions, and Lucky for Life.
In Michigan, we have the add-on options of EZmatch for Fantasy 5 and Lotto 47, as well as Double Play and Power Play options for Powerball. Before Mega Millions made its changes, there was also the Megaplier option.
I was choosing one single ticket for each game and every draw. I was also adding on all the options each game offered, so some hefty prices each week. But hey, if I could win six- or seven-figure jackpots, it would be worth it, right?
January: High hopes
With the games offered in my state, I was spending $52 a week on tickets! That is a big chunk of change every week, but I was trying my best.
The big highlights of January were jackpot wins for both Powerball and Mega Millions. A person in Oregon (not me) won $328.5 million playing Powerball. Then, a person in Arizona (not me) won $112 playing Mega Millions.
For myself, there was nothing to write home about. I had some $2 or $4 winners, but it was definitely a slow start for me.
February: Love of the lottery is in the air
Another month, and not much to report on the hunt for a jackpot. It was the same thing as hitting $2 or $4 winners, but nothing more than that.
One thing I did notice this month is that some lottery retailers have no clue how to operate the lottery machine. I was doing this all old school, so I was filling out the betting slips and going to the store to purchase the tickets.
Powerball and Mega Millions slips allow you to choose multiple draws, as I was buying a few draws in a row. No big issue, but the clerk would have to input how many draws in a row I want.
The thing is, they weren't looking at the screen. So, even though I would check the box for multiple draws, they would not ask me how many draws, and I would get a ticket for one drawing.
I mean, it's not a major thing, but when you are buying three Powerball tickets a week, it makes it annoying to have to go to the store each time. But again, I'm trying to do whatever I can to win that jackpot, so I pushed through.
March: Luck of the Irish?
I had two firsts for the month of March: my first “bigger” win and my first win on the EZmatch option.
For one of the Fantasy 5 drawings in March, I matched three of the five winning numbers. That's an exciting thing to see on your ticket, but then just as disappointing when the matches end at three. Matching 3 out of 5 winning numbers gave me a $20 win.
I was able to match one of the EZmatch numbers on a Lotto 47 ticket in March. This one ticked me off, as there are five numbers and prizes you are given on an EZmatch ticket. The number I matched was for a $2 prize. Every other number on the ticket (which none of them matched) was for $500, but thanks for matching the $2 winner.
April showers bring me big bucks?
April brought us the Mega Millions format changes to the game, so my weekly spend went up to $56. My rage from March continued into April.
I again matched one of the numbers on my EZmatch game for the Fantasy 5 this time. My prize: $2. Every other prize available on the ticket: $500!
I was able to match 3 out of the 5 winning numbers for two of the Fantasy 5 drawings in April. This brought me another $20 for each drawing, but I am searching for those six-figure wins here! It has to be 4 out of 5 numbers soon, right?
May: Another first
I saw another first in May. As I stated above, the format changes took place for the Mega Millions game in April. One of those changes was that every ticket would include a multiplier. Every draw I purchased for Mega Millions, I had a 2X multiplier.
Kind of lame, right? Well, I finally got a different multiplier with a ticket purchase in May. I got the 4X multiplier, so I was beyond excited to see if I could win. The answer was nope!
The following week, it happened again. This time, I got a 3X multiplier, but again, no winners would come from the ticket. Such a tease!
It'll happen on my birthday month
My birthday takes place in June, so my brain went to me thinking I would win the big jackpot on my birthday.
That wasn't the case, and it was probably one of my unluckiest months of the year. I had some $4 winners and a total of $9 for one week, but it was an ugly month.
Taking some time off
I know I was on a mission, but I was upset. I was spending over $200 a month on tickets and had nothing to show for it.
I needed a little break, so I took the month of July off. Nothing was going my way, so maybe a little space would help?
Changing my format
I couldn't continue spending over $200 a month and not come close to a big win. Because of that, I decided to change things up with how I was going to win these jackpots.
Instead of buying an Easy Pick ticket for each game, I was going to start chasing the bigger jackpots. The Powerball jackpot was growing? Let's focus on that game. A big Mega Millions jackpot? Time to buy those tickets.
I also tried to focus more on the in-state draw games, since those have better odds. If Fantasy 5 or Lotto 47 had bigger jackpots, then that meant they wanted me to win it!
A quest for the Lotto 47 jackpot
In August, I started to notice the Lotto 47 jackpot was growing. The jackpot starts at $1 million and grows with each non-winning draw.
It usually doesn't get bigger than $2 or $3 million, but it was bigger. That is when I started my mission to win the Lotto 47 jackpot.
The last winner took place on April 23, 2025. We were now in August, and the jackpot was over $5 million, which I would have gladly accepted.
For August, I did end up matching 3 out of the 6 winning numbers in one of the drawings. That gave me a $5 win, which I thought was insane.
That quest continued until December
As determined as I was to win the Lotto 47 jackpot, the luck never lined up for me when I was buying my tickets. I even tried using ChatGPT to pick numbers for me, as others have been having luck with that. Nope, no winners there!
On December 13, 2025, after 67 drawings, one lucky ticket matched all six of the winning numbers to win the biggest Lotto 47 jackpot in the game’s history: $32.91 million. Needless to say, I wasn't the holder of that ticket, so my hopes were dashed.
However, I had purchased multi-draw tickets, so I had three more drawings to try and win. There could be back-to-back jackpot winners, and I would take home a $1 million jackpot.
That wasn't the case either. My Lotto 47 jackpot quest came up way short.
Other side quests
While the Lotto 47 jackpot hunt took up most of the second part of 2025, I still did have some other jackpots I was trying to win:
- $1.79 billion Powerball jackpot – For the summer months, the Powerball jackpot grew to record highs, ending with tickets in Missouri and Texas splitting the jackpot on September 6. Again, no luck for me.
- $983 million Mega Millions jackpot – Right as the Powerball jackpot was won, the Mega Millions jackpot was climbing. That meant a shift to me buying Mega Millions tickets along with my Lotto 47 tickets. This jackpot run ended with one ticket in Georgia winning the $983 million jackpot on November 14 (again, not me).
- A Christmas miracle? – My final hope of the year came with Powerball, as the jackpot climbed to $1.82 billion for the Christmas Eve drawing. I mean, this would have been the perfect ending to my 2025. I said I was going to win a jackpot, and I turned it into a billion-dollar win. However, that wasn't the case, though, as a ticket in Arkansas matched all the winning numbers and got the Christmas miracle I was hoping for.
Too much money spent
In the end, I stopped tracking how much money I spent overall. I mean, if I don't keep track, then I spent no money, right?
It was over $1,500, probably, and here I am with nothing to show for it. A lot of anticipation and hope, but ending with frustration and loss. It was a good thought for 2025, but I'm going to have to switch it up for 2026!
Enjoy playing the lottery, and please remember to play responsibly.
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