WEST POINT — A Clay County man walked into a SprintMart in West Point on Tuesday and purchased five Mississippi Match 5 lottery tickets, something of a regular errand for him.
One of those tickets turned out to be worth $905,168, making him the game’s biggest jackpot winner since the Mississippi Lottery Corporation started offering it in April 2021.
“He said he typically buys several tickets for the in-state draw game every few weeks and always selects the quick pick option,” read a MLC press release issued Thursday.
The jackpot winner, who signed a form with MLC to remain anonymous, purchased five tickets for the Tuesday drawing. After the numbers were announced, he discovered one of the tickets had all the right ones, the press release read. He claimed his winnings Wednesday at MLC’s headquarters in Flowood.
Winners receive their prizes in a lump sum, said MLC communications director Meg Annison. After federal and state taxes, the Clay County man pocketed $660,772.64.
Other players are hoping the man’s luck rubs off on them. That has been great news for the SprintMart at 1443 Hwy. 45 N., where Tuesday’s jackpot ticket was sold.
Manager Tammie Rood told The Dispatch the store usually sells between 100 and 200 Match 5 tickets a week, but sales have nearly doubled the weekly average since word about the winning ticket got around early Wednesday. She expects to see more interest as the days go on.
“Now a lot of people are very curious about it because they haven’t played that game before,” she said. “So it’s not only the people that have been playing it, but also people that have never played it that now want to play.”
Match 5 is an in-state draw style game, whereas Mega Millions and Powerball are played across 45 states. The lottery, introduced in Mississippi in 2019, also offers scratch-off games.
Still, Match 5 has been particularly popular. To play, players purchase a ticket of five play panels with numbers 1 through 35, then mark five of the panels to get their numbers. Each ticket is $3.
Each panel represents one play. Players can also check the quick play box to receive some or all randomly generated numbers in the play.
“It’s been a player favorite,” Annison said. “The jackpot is obviously a lot lower than the two big ones like the Mega Millions and Powerball, so players enjoy the odds of Match 5. They enjoy that you’re just matching five numbers.”
Retailers receive 6 percent of ticket sales, with a $5,000 bonus for any ticket that hits a jackpot of $1 million or more.
Two Columbus players have also won big with Match 5, including a $542,000 winner in June and $55,000 in December.
There have been 513 Match 5 winners of $800 or more since the game started in 2021. Winning numbers are announced Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. The new numbers will be announced Saturday night at 10.
The state uses its share of lottery ticket sale proceeds to fund highway construction and maintenance and to education.
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