Sterling Heights Man Waits Weeks to Check Lottery Numbers, Wins $25K Per Year for Life

A Sterling Heights man won learned that he'd won a bundle from the Michigan Lottery, once he finally got around to checking his ticket.

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Winning Ticket is From Nine Months Ago

Floyd Warstler tells the Michigan Lottery that he plays 'Lucky for Life' every week but doesn't always get around to checking his tickets.

“About a month after the drawing, I realized I’d never checked this ticket, so I scanned it while I was at the store. I got a message to file a claim at the Lottery office, so I thought maybe I’d won a $5,000 prize."

Even though he suspected his ticket for the August 13 drawing was a winner, Warstler still set the ticket aside. He says it was his girlfriend who urged him to check the misplaced ticket.

“I got in my car and set the ticket aside to check when I got home and ended up forgetting about it. A week later, my girlfriend found the ticket in my car and asked if I’d checked it."

He went on to tell his girlfriend about the message he'd gotten, so she was the one who checked the winning numbers online.

Another Delay

Warstler had already planned to head south for the winter the day after he learned that he'd just won $25,000 per year for life. When the snowbird finally returned to Michigan, he visited Lottery headquarters in Lansing to collect his prize.

Warstler opted for a one-time payment of $390,000 rather than a yearly annuity payment. He tells the Lottery he plans to invest his winnings.