LANSING, Mich. (WWJ) -- A Grand Rapids woman has won $1,000 a day for the rest of her life, but her husband’s reaction was a bit underwhelming.
Kristen Kaminski says she played the Michigan Lottery’s Lucky For Life game when it first came out, but hadn’t done so in a while. Not until March 11, that is, when she bought a ticket out of the blue and won the big prize after all her white balls -- 15-19-28-30-48 -- and the Lucky ball, 05 were drawn.
“I woke up in the middle of the night and checked my email. The message was different that the normal one when you win a few bucks,” the 48-year-old Kaminski said. “I woke my husband up, and he thought I was dreaming.”
“All he could say was: ‘That’s nice dear.’ and then he rolled over,” Kaminski said.
Kaminski says she finally woke him up for good and showed him her phone.
“He was just as stunned as I was,” she said.
Kaminski visited Lottery headquarters in Lansing to claim her big prize. She chose to receive a one-time lump sum payment of about $5.75 million rather than annual payments of $365,000 for 20 years or life, whichever is greater.
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Kaminski says she plans to pay some bills and save the remainder of the money.
“We’ve got some things to pay off, like our house, and we want to set up college funds for our kids,” she said. “Other than that, my new hobby will be not spending this money, so it’s there for us when we retire.”
Lucky For Life tickets are $2 and the game gives players a chance to win prizes ranging from $3 to a lifetime of cash. To win the game’s top prize of $1,000 a day for life, players must match all five winning numbers ranging from 1 to 48, plus one Lucky Ball, running from 1 to 18. Players who match all five winning numbers, but not the Lucky Ball win $25,000 a year for life.
Drawings take place every Monday and Thursday at 10:35 p.m. Tickets may be purchased at Michigan Lottery retailers across the state or online at MichiganLottery.com.