All news

Michigan player wins $25,000 playing Lucky for Life

 Congratulations, Dina Russell!

Dina Russell's winning Lucky for Life ticket.
Dina Russell's winning Lucky for Life ticket. Photograph credit to the Michigan Lottery.
Corinna Underwood

A lucky Michigan Lottery player has won $25,000 a year for life by playing Lucky for Life.

The Flushing resident stopped by her local Borders Corner Store, located at 7024 East Pickard Road in Mount Pleasant, to purchase a Lucky for Life ticket. What she didn't realize was that she was already carrying a winning ticket in her purse.

Dina Russell recently claimed her winnings after she won the jackpot Lucky for Life prize by matching five white balls in the drawing on February 20, 2024. The winning numbers were 5, 7, 13, 37, and 39.

In an interview with the Michigan Lottery, she said:

I play Lucky for Life regularly. I pulled up to the gas station to purchase a ticket, but before going in, I checked the Lucky for Life ticket I had in my purse by scanning it on the MI Lottery app. When $25,000 a year for life came up on the screen, I was thrilled.

As soon as she found out she had won, Dina took a screenshot of her winning ticket and sent it to her husband. He replied immediately, telling her to come home straight away so that they could put the ticket in a safe place.

Dina recently traveled to the Michigan Lottery Headquarters to claim her prize. She opted to receive her winnings as a one-time lump sum payment of $390,000 instead of the annuity payments of $25,000 a year for 20 years or life, whichever is greater. She plans to use her winnings to buy a car, share with her children, and save for retirement.

How to play Lucky for Life

Lucky for Life is a $2 lottery draw game that gives players an opportunity to win prizes ranging from $3 to a top prize of $1,000 a Day for Life. To play, you must pick five numbers between 1 and 48 and one Lucky Ball from between 1 and 18. Alternatively, you can check Easy Pick on your play slip to have your numbers chosen randomly by the computer.

You can play up to 10 separate games on each play slip. You can also play in as many as 30 consecutive drawings with your pre-selected numbers by marking the number of games you wish to play in the multiple-draw wagers area of your play slip. Once you've completed your play slip, give it to your lottery retailer to have it printed. Lucky for Life is drawn on Thursdays and Sundays at 10:38 p.m.

Here's the prize range for this game:

Matches Prize
5 White Balls + Lucky Ball $1,000 / Day for Life
5 White Balls $25,000 / Year for Life
4 White Balls + Lucky Ball $5,000
4 White Balls $200
3 White Balls + Lucky Ball $150
3 White Balls $20
2 White Balls + Lucky Ball $25
2 White Balls $3
1 White Ball + Lucky Ball $6
Lucky Ball $4

Comments

Comments have been disabled for this article.

Related articles

The televised Swisslos drawing broadcast by the Swiss public channel SRF in 2018, where Andreas Bürkli was wrongly declared the jackpot winner.
Lotteries gone wrong: These million-dollar mistakes cost players big

These players lost millions because of mistakes by the lottery.

Alex Cramer profile pic

Alex Cramer

Bobby Stuart, $1 million dollar lottery winner from Maine.
Win big, work hard: These lottery players won millions and kept their jobs

This nurse wouldn't quit even after winning a jackpot worth millions.

Alex Cramer profile pic

Alex Cramer

Jawed Areeb, accused of trying to claim a stolen Florida Lottery Fantasy 5 ticket.
The $115K Florida Lottery ticket was real, but the claim wasn't

Investigators say a lottery retailer stole a winning Fantasy 5 ticket and sent his nephew to claim the prize.

Todd Betzold profile pic

Todd Betzold

Sloan Stanley of Meridian, Kansas, won $25,000 after playing the lottery for the first time.
High school jackpots: Lottery winners who struck it rich as teenagers

This 18-year-old won big with her first-ever lottery ticket.

Alex Cramer profile pic

Alex Cramer

Recent articles

View All
A Powerball ticket and a dollar bill on a table.
Featured
The math behind Powerball

First in our series: The Math Behind Powerball exposes the probabilities hiding beneath the jackpot hype.

Dr. Catalin Barboianu profile pic

Dr. Catalin Barboianu

A football with the logos of the NFL and it's participating teams.
Powerball meets the NFL: New details emerge on multi-state game

The NFL-inspired lottery game has been in development for years — here's what's finally coming into focus.

Todd Betzold profile pic

Todd Betzold

The televised Swisslos drawing broadcast by the Swiss public channel SRF in 2018, where Andreas Bürkli was wrongly declared the jackpot winner.
Lotteries gone wrong: These million-dollar mistakes cost players big

These players lost millions because of mistakes by the lottery.

Alex Cramer profile pic

Alex Cramer

The logos for Millionaire for Life, Lucky for Life, and Cash4Life over a sky blue background with confetti.
31 states retire legacy lottery games for new daily millionaire draw

Here's what happens to Cash4Life and Lucky for Life tickets after February 21.

Samantha Herscher profile pic

Samantha Herscher