EVERETT — Did you happen to buy a state Lotto ticket in Auburn six months ago?
If so, better check it. Fast.
The $1.4 million Lotto ticket, purchased at a Safeway in Auburn, will expire Thursday.
There’s also a $10,000 Match 4 ticket from a Bellevue Safeway that’s not going to be worth a penny after Friday. The lucky duck holders of winning $10,000 Match 4 tickets sold in Marysville and Everett in March have until September to cash in.
Lots more money is waiting to be connected with its rightful owners.
There are 91 not-yet-redeemed tickets worth a total of $2.26 million, according to Washington’s Lotteries.
Players have 180 days from the drawing date to claim their prize. For scratch games, it’s 180 days from the last day of ticket sales to claim prizes.
The pandemic has changed the path to riches.
Winning tickets worth $601 or more used to be claimed at lottery regional offices, such as the one in Everett, all of which are closed. Now, the state lottery wants winners with prizes up to $100,000 to mail in their tickets to claim their loot.
Or you can hold onto it until the lottery offices reopen to collect winnings. Make sure to take it out of your pocket before you toss your pants in the wash.
Winners with tickets for $100,000 or more have the option to call the lottery headquarters in Olympia to schedule an appointment to make an in-person claim.
Tickets $600 and less can be cashed in at retail sites.
In Washington, tickets are not sold online and must be purchased at a retailer or a vending machine.
“If people choose to play, we encourage them to buy their tickets only as part of necessary shopping trips and to consolidate those trips as much as possible,” Marcus Glasper, lottery director, said in an email. “We want to remind players that they can check their tickets on our mobile app instead of coming into a store.”
Multi-state games Powerball and Mega Millions both eliminated guaranteed starting jackpot amounts after a big win with all six numbers hit. The Mega Millions jackpot is at $274 million. Powerball is $95 million.
By state law, the names of winners are public record and can be obtained with a records request.
Prizes that aren’t claimed go in a reserve account for the Washington Opportunity Pathways Account, which helps support college students and early childhood education programs.
Andrea Brown: abrown@heraldnet.com; 425-339-3443. Twitter @reporterbrown.
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