Wayne County man wins $7.19 million lottery jackpot after dad suggests new strategy

WAYNE COUNTY, Mich. – A Wayne County man won a $7.19 million lottery jackpot after his dad suggested he try a new strategy.

“I have been playing Lotto 47 for a long time, and would always switch up my numbers,” the 38-year-old man said. “One day, my dad told me I should pick a set of numbers and stick with them, so that’s what I did. I purchased an online subscription and have been playing the same set of numbers for a few years.

A ticket he bought online matched the winning Lotto 47 numbers from the May 22 drawing: 22-24-26-40-41-44.

“I saw an email from the lottery saying I’d won a prize, so I logged into my lottery account, and that’s when I saw $7.19 million pending,” the man said. “I was in total shock and instantly thought how my dad had been right.”

He recently visited Michigan Lottery headquarters and chose to receive his prize as a one-time lump sum of about $4.9 million.

The man, who chose to remain anonymous, said he plans to invest and put money into college funds for his children.

“Winning feels surreal,” he said. “It still hasn’t sunk in that I’m a millionaire.”