Lottery winner misses out on jackpot by just one number – the next day he went back and scooped $790k prize

A LOTTERY player upset after missing a jackpot by one number had his misfortune reversed a day later - with a $790,000 win.

The Michigan man bought his winning ticket online.

He initially assumed an email notifying him about a big prize was a "scam."

The player, who chose to remain anonymous, matched the Fantasy 5 numbers in the July 27 drawing, said Michigan Lottery.

These were 02-05-17-21-30.

However, it had been a different story just one day earlier, said lottery officials.

The Macomb County man "was bummed when he missed the Fantasy 5 jackpot by one number," it revealed in the August 8 press release.

"But much to his surprise, he matched all five numbers the next night to win a $795,905 Fantasy 5 jackpot."

“I always buy Fantasy 5 tickets if the jackpot is over $250,000,” said the player, 53.

“I usually buy my tickets in-store, but the night of the drawing I realized I’d forgotten to buy some, so I logged onto MichiganLottery.com and bought two."

After the drawing on July 27, he noticed an email informing him that he had won $1 in the drawing.

The man assumed the $1 was all that he had won.

But, luckily, he followed up another email - which informed him he should log into his account to claim his prize.

"When I logged in and saw $795,905 pending, my first thought was that it was a scam," he added.

It wasn't until he was physically at the lottery office claiming his prize money that it started to "hit" him that it was actually real.

“What’s crazy is the night before I matched four out of five numbers on my Fantasy 5 ticket and thought: ‘I was so close'," he said.

"I was excited to win $100, but bummed that I was one number off a large jackpot prize.

"I never could have imagined then that the next night I would actually win the jackpot."

He said he planned to invest his winnings.

Biggest Lottery Winners in US

Here are the largest U.S. jackpots won and the states where the winning tickets were sold...

1. $2.04 billion, Powerball, Nov. 7, 2022 (one ticket, from California)

2. $1.765 billion, Powerball, Oct. 11, 2023 (one ticket, from California)

3. $1.602 billion, Mega Millions, Aug. 8, 2023 (one ticket, from Florida)

4. $1.586 billion, Powerball, Jan. 13, 2016 (three tickets, from California, Florida, Tennessee)

5. $1.537 billion, Mega Millions, Oct. 23, 2018 (one ticket, from South Carolina)

6. $1.348 billion, Mega Millions, Jan. 13, 2023 (one ticket, from Maine)

7. $1.337 billion, Mega Millions, July 29, 2022 (one ticket, from Illinois)

8. $1.326 billion, Powerball, April 7, 2024 (one ticket, Oregon)

9. $1.13 billion, Mega Millions, March 26, 2024 (one ticket, from New Jersey)

10. $1.08 billion, Powerball, July 19, 2023 (one ticket, from California)

Source: Associated Press

Fantasy 5 drawings are held seven days a week at 7:29 pm.

Meanwhile, lottery officials are seeking the ticket holders of unclaimed prize pots worth $200,000.

Officials said the player bought the winning ticket at a Circle K convenience store and gas station in Highlands Ranch, about 26 miles south of Denver.

And a Florida player won a staggering $20.5 million prize this month - but has yet to claim the life-changing win.

The ticket was sold from a Murphy USA gas station in Kissimmee, south of Orlando.