Elaine M. of Fort Wayne likes to play Draw games when their jackpots grow to high amounts. When she saw that the Mega Millions® jackpot was nearing $1 billion, she decided to purchase some tickets.

On the evening of the drawing, Elaine’s daughter asked her if she had purchased her tickets. “Oops,” said Elaine. “I forgot!” With a few hours left before the drawing, Elaine hopped in the car, drove to the nearby Meijer and purchased a few tickets.

The day after the drawing, Elaine’s daughter was checking her own tickets and asked Elaine whether she had checked hers. “Oops, I forgot,” Elaine said once again.

As she looked at one ticket, Elaine saw that she matched the Mega Ball. Then she saw she matched another number. And another. And another. “I think I won something,” she told her daughter.

Her daughter looked at the ticket and told her mom she had just won $10,000. Both women were thrilled! And then Elaine noticed that the Megaplier® for that drawing was 5X, meaning she actually won $50,000!

“It took me 45 minutes to realize it was real,” said Elaine.

Wanting to share her good news, Elaine called her brother who also likes to play Draw games. When she asked how he was doing, he jokingly replied, “Good! I just won a bunch on Mega Millions.”

“Really?” said Elaine. “I did, too!”

Her brother was shocked but very happy for her when Elaine told him about her big win.

Elaine plans to use her winnings for a couple of projects around the house and will save the rest.