An Oregon man took the “set it and forget it” approach to playing the lottery, and it paid off bigger than he could have ever imagined.
Wilbur Brown decided to play the “26 for 25” Megabucks game on Christmas Eve, putting down $25 for the right to have his numbers entered in the lottery automatically for the next 26 straight drawings.
The 26 straight drawings Brown was qualified for ended on February 19, but by then he had put it out of his mind.
“After the first few drawings, I'd check my ticket,” Brown told the Oregon Lottery. “Then I just kind of forgot about it and wasn't checking.”
When Brown found himself back at the place where he’d bought his ticket, the Moose Lodge in Springfield, Ore., he decided to see if he had won anything. That’s when the scanner popped up with the message “Large Lottery Winner.”
That’s when Brown checked back at previous drawings for his now-lucky numbers – 15, 33, 34, 40, 42 and 47 – and he learned he’d won $8.9 million.
Brown chose the 30-year annuity instead of one lump sum, and he’ll get just over $200,000 per year after taxes for the next three decades.
It was a lucky break for the Moose Lodge as well, who gets 1% of the jackpot for selling the winning ticket – a cool $89,000.
“The last couple of years have been a challenge for us,” Moose Lodge Manager Michael Scott told KPIC. “The influence of receiving such a big chunk of change is huge! We'll be working with our members to figure out the best way to use the bonus money.”
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