Bowling Green woman becomes first in Kentucky to win second prize on Millionaire for Life

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. (WBKO) – A Bowling Green woman has won the second-tier prize of $100,000 a year for life playing the Kentucky Lottery’s Millionaire for Life™ draw game. She is the first Kentuckian and the second player nationwide to win the second prize.

The winner, who has chosen to remain anonymous, says she is a frequent lottery player. She purchased the winning ticket at one of her regular stops in Bowling Green – AM Express.

Her ticket matched the five white balls: 42 – 45 – 46 – 48 – 56 on the May 11 drawing to win the game’s second prize.

The odds of winning the second-tier prize are 1 in 5,727,645.

She recalls discovering the win shortly after chatting with her daughter.

“I hung up and pulled up the lottery’s app and saw online that someone had won at the gas station I always go to,” she said, in a release. “So, I logged in and checked my ticket and saw $2.2 million on the screen. I logged in, logged off and checked it again—three times—just to make sure I was seeing it right.”

The woman says she’s been playing regularly for years and never stopped believing her moment would come.

“I always said that one of these days it would happen,” the woman said.

Instead of choosing the annuity prize of $100,000 a year for life, the woman chose the current estimated cash value of the one-time lump sum payment of $2.2 million, taking home a check for $1,595,000 after taxes.

When asked about plans for her prize,

She told lottery officials that she her priority is helping her family.

Beyond that, she does have one dream set and that is to travel.

AM Express, will receive $1,000 for selling the winning ticket.

Millionaire for Life™ tickets cost $5 per play, and drawings are held nightly at 11:15 p.m. E.T. The top prize for matching the five white balls plus the Millionaire Ball is $1 million a year for life.