Ohio Man Wins $3.5 Million Lottery Jackpot After Playing Same Numbers for Decades
Posted on: February 23, 2026, 10:28h.
Last updated on: February 23, 2026, 11:59h.
- An Ohio man who played the same lottery numbers for 22 years finally won big
- The anonymous winner claimed a $3.5 million prize on Classic Lotto
- In other lottery news, the nation’s newest interstate game began on Sunday
An Ohio man who claims to have played the same numbers for more than two decades finally won big.
In a story that proves persistence pays off, the Ohio Lottery reports that a man has been playing the same six numbers for 22 years. During the Feb. 4 drawing of Classic Lotto, his tenacity won him a life-changing result.
Classic Lotto is a draw game played on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday evenings at 7:05 pm EST. Each ticket costs $1, with players tasked with picking six numbers out of a pool of 49 numbers.
The odds of hitting the jackpot on the 6/49 matrix are 1 in 39,983,816. Classic Lotto’s lower prizes include $1,500 (odds 1 in 54,201) for matching five numbers, $70 (1 in 1,302) for matching four, and $2 (1 in 57) for matching three.
Stubbornness Led to Millions
The Ohio Lottery’s Classic Lotto game starts with a beginning jackpot of $1 million. The game’s top prize rolls over between drawings, with minimum increases of $100,000 each time there’s not a jackpot winner.
Asked by lottery officials why he kept playing the same numbers of 6, 8, 16, 20, 26, and 45, the anonymous winner answered that he’s “stubborn.” The man said he has been playing those six numbers since 2004, typically spending about $10 a week on the lottery.
The Feb. 4 jackpot was valued at $3.5 million. Instead of the full amount paid out over 29 years, the winner took the one-time cash option of $1.7 million. After state and federal taxes, the prize came to $1,281,875.
The winner says the money will allow him to retire and to buy a house with a pool and a gym. The Ohio Lottery retailer in Akron that sold the winning Classic Lotto ticket received a $1,000 bonus.
Proceeds from the Ohio Lottery support K-12, vocational, and special education programs in the Buckeye State. Since 1974, lottery revenue has provided more than $33 billion in educational assistance.
The Ohio Lottery has the nation’s longest-running lottery television program with the Saturday night Cash Explosion Show.
Millionaire for Life Begins
The nation’s newest interstate lottery game launched on Sunday. Powerball’s Millionaire for Life held its initial drawing on Feb. 22, though no play won the game’s top prize of $1 million a year for life.
Two $5 tickets came close, as they matched four of the white balls and the green Millionaire Ball to win the game’s third-best prize of $7,500 each. They overcame the odds of 1 in 86,455 in winning $7,500.
The top prize of $1 million a year for life features the long odds of 1 in 22.9 million. The second-tier prize of $100,000 a year for life faces odds of 5.72 million.
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