STARKVILLE – For the second time in the last four months, a losing lottery ticket received a second chance and won a Starkville resident $100,000.
The owner of the winning ticket, purchased at the Down the Hatch Deli and Marathon convenience store located at 405 Russell St., entered the ticket into the Mississippi Lottery Corporation’s 2nd Chance website to be entered to receive the game’s top prize, MLC President of Communications Savannah Tirey said.
“Everyone’s excited when they (win) the lottery, obviously, but our second chance winners just seem to have that extra excitement factor because they submitted a non-winning ticket,” Tirey told The Dispatch. “And so it really is just a thrill for them to receive that letter. And it’s some of our favorite winter interactions.”
The Starkville resident was among 12 winners across the state named in MLC’s Tuesday 2nd Chance drawing, which totaled $945,000 awarded through lottery ticket games that were ending, Tirey said.
The winners will be notified by certified mail, Tirey said. After receiving those letters, they will have 10 days to notify MLC they received the letter and another 30 days to send in the claiming paperwork.
Ashley Ray, owner of Down the Hatch, said her store has a loyal contingent of lottery shoppers but she hopes as word spreads of the win that more shoppers will come to her store.
“We’re locally owned and operated, and there’s not a lot of gas stations that are like that anymore,” Ray said. “… We really just hope that people who come in and shop the lottery also stop in the store.”
The drawing Tuesday marked the second $100,000 Starkville winner from MLC’s 2nd Chance drawings in the last four months.
Since lottery sales began in Mississippi in 2019, The Dispatch has reported at least five lottery wins of more than $100,000 in the Golden Triangle, along with the Tuesday drawing.
A portion of each lottery ticket sold in Mississippi goes back to the state, Tirey said. Each year, the first $80 million in net lottery proceeds goes towards Mississippi’s roads and bridges and then additional proceeds go to the Education Fund.
MLC transferred $10.5 million in November directly to the state’s EEF, bringing the total so far for Fiscal Year 2026 to $19 million.
Tirey said since lottery sales began in 2019, the state has received nearly $700 million in total proceeds.
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Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 24 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
