LANSING, Mich. - A Kansas woman is having an unforgettable vacation after winning $25,000 a year for life playing the Michigan Lottery's Lucky For Life game.
Amber Hamm, 33, of Wichita, won the big prize by matching the five white balls drawn July 29: 05-06-16-19-27. She bought her winning ticket at the Meijer store, located at 700 West Norton Avenue in Muskegon.
"We are in Michigan on vacation and visiting family," said Hamm. "We were at the store getting our groceries for the trip and saw a Lottery machine while we were checking out, so we decided to try our luck.
"A few days after we bought the ticket, my uncle heard that someone in Muskegon had won a big Lottery prize, but we thought it was on a scratch off ticket. We decided to check our Lucky for Life ticket anyway. We saw we had matched five numbers but weren't sure how much money we had won. When we found out it was $25,000 a year for life we were in complete shock."
Hamm and her fiancé visited Lottery headquarters recently to claim the big prize. She chose to receive her winnings as a one-time payment of $390,000, rather than annual payments of $25,000 for 20 years or life. They plan to use the winnings to pay for their wedding and to buy a home.
"It feels so good to win this money," said Hamm. "This has definitely been a vacation I will never forget!"
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