CASTLE ROCK, Colo. — A "lost" lottery ticket worth $25,000 per year for life has been claimed, just two days before it expired.
The winning "Lucky for Life" ticket was sold at a King Soopers in Castle Rock back in September.
According to a Facebook post by the Colorado Lottery, the winner said he was waiting until 2020 to cash in the ticket due to tax purposes.
He thought his prize was $5,000, according to the Colorado Lottery, but he actually has won $25,000 every year for the rest of his life, or a lump sum of $390,000.
>> In the video above, Colorado residents imagine what they would do if they won a lottery jackpot.
The winner cashed in his ticket just in the nick of time: the ticket expires Mar. 6.
If the winner had not claimed the ticket by the end of the business day on Friday, the lottery said the money would have been returned to the pool.
Last week, a second person in Fruita, Colorado also won the Lucky For Life prize of $25,000 every year.
“Colorado has had 14 of the 2nd-prize winners since we joined the game in July 2016,” said Meghan Dougherty, the communication manager at the Colorado Lottery. “Colorado has not yet had a 1st-prize winner in this game but our fingers are crossed!”
First place is $1,000 a day for life.
The Lucky For Life game is played by choosing five numbers out of 48 and one number from 18 for Lucky Ball. It’s a nation-wide game that Colorado participates in, so each ticket bought is entered into a pool of people from all over the country.
In 2019, the sales revenue made from Lucky For Life was $17 million.
Proceeds from the Colorado Lottery fund multiple organizations in Colorado, including Great Outdoors Colorado (GOCO), Conservation Trust Fund (CTF), Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) and Building Excellent Schools (BEST).
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