Michigan Lottery: Man's lucky hunch pays off with $3.7M Lotto 47 jackpot

LANSING, Mich. – A lucky hunch paid off for a Livingston County lottery club that won a $3.73 million Lotto 47 jackpot from the Michigan Lottery.

The five-member club, which chose to remain anonymous, matched all six Lotto 47 numbers drawn Dec. 15: 01-02-07-08-11-26. The winning ticket was bought at the Sunoco gas station, located at 763 South Michigan Avenue in Howell.

“The five of us play whenever one of us gets a hunch about some numbers,” said the club’s representative. “I was out to dinner with my wife and saw the jackpot was getting pretty high, so I bought five plays on our way home.

“I checked the ticket after the drawing and saw I had all six numbers. I told my wife: ‘You need to come see this, I think we won a bunch of money.’ When she looked at the ticket she immediately knew it was real. We called the other club members to tell them the good news and celebrated a little bit.”

The club members visited Lottery headquarters Tuesday to claim the big jackpot. Each member plans to share their good fortune with family members.

Each Lotto 47 play is only $1. Players select six numbers from one to 47 for a chance to win a jackpot starting at $1 million and grows until someone wins it. For an additional $1 per game, players may add EZMatch to their ticket for a chance to win up to $500 instantly. Lotto 47 drawings take place on Wednesday and Saturday at 7:29 p.m. Tickets may be purchased until 7:08 p.m. on the day of the drawing.