Player Wins $1,000 a Week for Life with Fortune Cookie Numbers

Nov. 03, 2023

A Missouri Lottery player in Independence decided to play the numbers contained in his fortune cookie on a Cash4Life ticket he purchased for the Oct. 25 drawing. That decision paid off big time when his ticket matched all five white-ball numbers drawn, resulting in a prize of $1,000 a week for life.

“I opened up the fortune cookies, and I looked at the numbers and then I said to myself, ‘Maybe I’m going to pick these numbers for the Lottery,’” he shared. “Sure enough, I picked those numbers and that’s what it is.”

The winning ticket was purchased at Casey’s, 15800 E. 23rd St., in Independence. The winning numbers for the Oct. 25 drawing were 11, 16, 21, 25 and 45, with a Cash Ball of 2.

Cash4Life second-prize winners can claim their $1,000-a-week-for-life prize in one of two ways. They are given the choice between a lump-sum option of $1 million or an annual installment option of $52,000. Winners who choose the annual installment option are entitled to a minimum of 20 annual payments.

The winner – who opted for the lump sum of $1 million – shared his plans to use some of the winnings to take a trip to Hawaii and visit family.

Cash4Life is a $2 per play multi-state Draw Game that has a top prize of $1,000 a day for life, as well as a second-tier prize of $1,000 a week for life. Drawings are held daily at approximately 8 p.m.

In FY23, players in Jackson County won more than $108.7 million in Missouri Lottery prizes, retailers received more than $9.9 million in commissions and bonuses, and more than $15.5 million in Lottery proceeds went to education programs in the county.