STARKVILLE – A second chance from the Mississippi Lottery Corporation turned a losing ticket from a Starkville resident into a $100,000 win Thursday.
The owner of the winning ticket, purchased at the Sprint Mart located at 600 S. Montgomery St., entered the ticket which was previously a losing ticket into MLC’s 2nd Chance website to be entered to receive the game’s top prize, MLC Vice President of Communications Savannah Tirey said.
“We’re just trying to extend the fun of our games,” Tirey said. “… It’s just something more for the players to be invested in with the tickets, and for them to have another shot at those big top prizes. It really just kind of keeps the excitement going for the players.”
The Starkville resident was a part of eight winners across the state named in MLC’s Thursday 2nd Chance drawing, which totaled $980,000 awarded through lottery ticket games that were ending, Tirey said. MLC typically does about four seasonal 2nd Chance drawings a year that include top prize selections from between eight to 12 lottery games that are ending.
The winners will be notified by certified mail, which is expected to arrive next week, Tirey said. After receiving those letters the winners will have 10 days to notify MLC they received the letter and another 30 afterward to send in the claiming paperwork.
Tanner Tate, the district leader for Sprint Marts in the Starkville area, said once word spreads about the winning ticket, it’s bound to increase customers at the store.
“We’re just going to let everybody know that we had a winner here when everybody plays and hopefully that will increase our sales here,” Tate said.
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 Enhancement Fund.
MLC transferred $10.5 million in August directly to the state’s EEF, bringing the total so far for Fiscal Year 2026 to $19 million, Tirey said. Tirey said since lottery sales began in 2019, the state has received nearly $700 million in total proceeds.
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