Northville Family Claims $1.25 Million in Lottery Winnings

A Northville family has just become $1.25 million richer thanks to the Michigan Lottery.

The patriarch of the family, identified by the Michigan Lottery only as Big Daddy, his wife of 44 years and his three daughters at the Northville .

The family's tickets had five numbers match those picked in the March 20 national Mega Millions drawing. The odds of matching the five numbers is l in 3.9 million.

Here's more from a Michigan Lottery press release:

(Big Daddy) explained that he has been playing the same numbers in the Mega Millions game since it first went on sale. The numbers are a configuration of 641, the first number he ever won a Lottery prize on years ago.

The lucky purchase consisted of five tickets with 01 04 06 11 14 as the white ball numbers, with a different Mega ball number - 01, 04, 06, 11 and 14 - on each. The five winning wagers were among nine sold in Michigan, and 68 sold across the country, for the March 20 drawing.

"I was strategizing," Big Daddy said about his playing practices. "I didn't give them (family members) an option."

Big Daddy proudly boasted of another March 20 accomplishment: he caught a couple of walleye that weighed in at 9 1/2 and 9 pounds. "That was his lucky day," a daughter said.

Despite cashing in today, Big Daddy said he will continue to play the Lottery, and with the same lucky numbers. In fact, he is all set for tonight's Mega Millions drawing that carries a $290 million jackpot.

"I bought the tickets yesterday," he said, adding that he hopes "to get it right this time" and take home the jackpot prize.

The winning tickets, which were among nine sold in Michigan for Tuesday's drawing, were purchased at Meijer #54, 20401 Haggerty Rd., in Northville.

Several of the other $250,000 prizes have already been claimed:

Abe Jones purchased a winning ticket at Sam's um Yum Donuts Inc. in Taylor; William Bobbish bought his lucky ticket at Smoker's Express in Canton; and Michael Durgan bought his ticket at Fenton Party Store in Fenton.

The remaining $250,000 winning ticket, sold at Eagle Express in Howell, has not been claimed.

In total, the March 20 drawing had 2,024,644 winners of prizes ranging from $2 to $250,000.