After the announcement of the winning numbers in early Summer, a Maryland lottery game gave the unannounced winner one hundred eighty two days to claim the prize –a substantial amount of time for searching between the couch cushions or thumbing through a house full of drawers. With only one day left on the claim period, however, it looked as though the jackpot was set to go unclaimed, until the winner confirmed his ticket numbers with the state lottery agency and became the recipient of a considerable quarter million dollars.

The man, who had apparently forgotten about his purchase, stashed the ticket with his auto insurance papers, and it just so happened that right before the claim period was up, the winner’s auto insurance was set to be renewed on its six-month schedule. The man remembered having heard about an unclaimed prize for that particular game, and decided to check the numbers –after which he was pleasantly surprised to find that he had indeed won. With his winnings, the man has stated that he’ll likely spend some on a vacation, donate a portion to charity, help out his family, and make some investments along the way.

The unimaginable agony of finding a winning UK National Lottery ticket recently expired may be exceptionally rare, but without proper ticket organization or an online playing or tracking method, such scenes can become reality. Luckily for this Maryland man, such an agony was, even if barely, averted.

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It might sound increasingly incredible each time it happens, but the occurrences of lottery winners failing to claim their prizes continue throughout the UK, a phenomenon which got an extra set of records on October the 3rd, when two winners apparently didn’t realize that five of their numbers as well as the bonus ball were right on track. If you frequently play the lottery, you’ll probably realize that this means a great deal of cash was at stake, and indeed, nearly £150 thousand is still waiting to be claimed between these two winners.

Lottery players may gawk at such reports, wondering how anyone could possibly forget to check their numbers. But experience has shown that it can and does happen, and concerned players should consider adopting a failsafe measure such as playing online or keeping paper tickets well-organized near a calendar or other frequently-referenced item. The latest two losses come on the heels of a £50 thousand pound prize recently given away to charity after being unclaimed beyond the ticket’s expiration date.

The UK Lottery is fairly generous with its expiration policy, and the two winners will have until April 1st, 2010 to come forward with their winning tickets. Those playing for today’s £54 million EuroMillions jackpot may feel especially nervous about forgotten or lost tickets, but the enormity or the prize is sure to help entrants remember to check their numbers. No matter your favorite game or method of playing, we hope you’ll hang on to your winning numbers!

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