Here’s an interesting fact that I’m sharing; not so much to educate and inform, but rather to instill a chilling fear in you.
As a matter a fact, I’m writing this post with the hope that I scare the [expletive] out of you. Then maybe you won’t make the same mistakes you’re about to read about.
Every year about $2 billion in lottery winnings go unclaimed in the United States. How is that possible, you wonder?
Some instances when and how this happens probably won’t surprise you. Tickets get lost or thrown away.
I myself have thrown away tickets that I thought were from past drawings but were in fact for upcoming drawings.
In one instance, upon realizing my mistake I went digging through messy kitchen garbage can looking for a small crumpled-up piece of paper. Unfortunately, I learned that the ticket was not a winner and ended up right back in the trash two days later.
But the more unusual way money goes unclaimed is when players see the jackpot grand prize numbers, realize that they didn’t win the jackpot, and throw the ticket away without checking to see if they won smaller prizes.
You didn’t win $20 million but maybe you won 100 bucks. Nope, not even going to check, and away goes that $100 ticket!
“So, Mr. Writer Guy,” you ask. “I see how people might lose a little bit of money here and there. But how much of that $2 billion is big-time money? Have any large jackpots ever gone unclaimed?
The answer: Yes.
Very large, life-changing jackpots have gone unclaimed. And it’s happened more than once.
Here are some of the largest lottery jackpots to go unclaimed:
In 2006 a $46 million Mega Millions jackpot was won in April of that year. The winning ticket was purchased at a location in Brooklyn, New York. Most states have a 180-day deadline to collect winning jackpots and New York is one of those states. Well, turns out that the 180 days came and went and nobody ever showed up to claim the prize. The unclaimed $46 million ended up going back into the state’s prize pool. A similar “unclaimed prize” story occurred in New York state a few years earlier. More on that shortly.
In September 2002, a Powerball jackpot totaling $103 million was won by two players. One of the winning tickets was purchased in Pennsylvania. The other winning ticket was purchased in Indiana. The Pennsylvania winner ended up coming forward and claimed the $51 million share of the prize money, but the Indiana player never did. State lottery officials in Indiana ran commercials to try and bring the winner out of hiding. But the deadline came and went and the $51 million remained unclaimed. This was the first time in Powerball history that a prize was never claimed.
More recently, in February of 2016, a SuperLotto Plus ticket valued at $63 million was purchased at a 7-11 in California. The jackpot went unclaimed as the expiration date came and went. However, after the date had passed, a man claimed that it was he who purchased the winning ticket and insisted that he should receive payment. After an investigation, lottery officials determined that this person’s ticket was not purchased at the matching location, nor was it purchased on the date the winning ticket was sold. Nobody else ever came forward, so the $63 sat unclaimed.
Remember that New York unclaimed incident I mentioned? Well, let’s dig into it. On Christmas eve, 2002, a Mega Millions Jackpot worth $68 million was won (heck of a Christmas gift, huh?). The ticket was purchased at a location in Queens, New York, but the prize was never claimed. One year later a man came forward claiming that it was he who purchased the winning ticket. He said that he couldn’t come forward because the ticket went missing in a “non-retrievable situation.” He went so far as to sue the commission to get the funds. But as with the California man, an investigation into this person’s ticket purchase revealed no such record of any ticket or sale of any ticket at the retailer that the man claimed to have visited. Nobody else ever came forward.
And finally, we get to the June 29th Powerball jackpot won in 2011. This jackpot was $77 million. the ticket was purchased at a truck stop in Georgia. Whoever stopped at this truck stop never came back to claim this $77 million jackpot. As of today, this is the largest unclaimed jackpot in U.S. lottery history.
So was it you?
Here’s a thought: when you buy a lottery ticket, check it before you throw it away. And maybe hold onto it until after the drawing takes place.