Oregon Man Wins $8.9M After Checking Forgotten Lottery Ticket from Christmas Eve

An Oregon man recently learned he was an $8.9 million lottery winner after checking a forgotten ticket he purchased on Christmas Eve.

Wilbur Brown and some friends gathered at the Moose Lodge in Springfield on December 24, when one of his pals purchased a “26 for $25” Megabucks lottery ticket, the Oregon Lottery said in a press release. The ticket allows players to play 26 consecutive drawings by buying a single ticket for $25. After seeing his friend buy one, Brown purchased a ticket for himself.

His ticket applied to drawings for 13 weeks, from December 25 – to February 19.

“After the first few drawings, I’d check my ticket,” Brown told the Oregon Lottery. “Then I just kind of forgot about it and wasn’t checking.”

Last month, Brown returned to the Moose Lodge and remembered his ticket, so he brought it to the self-check terminal to scan it. The machine produced a message telling him to “See Customer Service.” He then had a server check the ticket, and the notification “Large Lottery Winner” popped up on the terminal. 

He and his friends raced to check lottery results on their phones and soon learned he won an $8.9 million jackpot, the release stated. Brown chose to take his winnings as a 30-year annuity and will receive a check for just over $200,000 each year. He has established a trust for the funds. 

As a reward for selling the winning ticket, the Moose Lodge will receive one percent of the jackpot, or $89,000. 

“The last couple of years have been a challenge for us,” Moose Lodge Manager Michael Scott told the Oregon Lottery. “The influence of receiving such a big chunk of change is huge! We’ll be working with our members to figure out the best way to use the bonus money.”

He noted his patrons now have a case of lottery fever. 

“Another thing that Wilbur’s win did, was now everyone at the Lodge is buying the ’26 for $25′ Megabucks tickets!” Scott added.

Wilbur’s win comes after a pair of jaw-dropping lottery wins in other states late last year. In December, a North Carolina accidentally purchased two identical lottery tickets, which resulted in him winning two separate prizes of $25,000 a year for the rest of his life. He took the winnings as a lump sum and walked away with $551,851 after taxes. In October, a Maryland man won $2 million on a scratch ticket for the second time in his life.