On the 3rd of October 2008 Chris Crane from Michigan has become a new Mega Millions millionaire.

During their lifetime Chris Crane and his wife Tina have been lucky with the lottery twice. However, the first win, $7, was nothing to compare with the one they received fairly recently. With $42 million winning Crane has become Michigan’s 6th largest Mega Millions jackpot winner.

The couple was in the Mega Millions office few days ago to claim their prize and imparted to the reporters that they feel blessed by their good fortune. 

Chris played the same numbers for years without much success. That very day on Saturday, the 4rd of October, he and Tina had gone to a “mom-to-mom” sale. Later in the evening Tina, who worked as an x-ray technician on the night shift, went to bed while Chris went online to have a quick look at the winning numbers. When he saw that a winning ticket had been sold at Stoney Creek Party Shoppe in Washington, his first thought was, “No way!” 

When he looked at the winning numbers, his reaction was the same. As he played the same numbers for years he simply knew he held the winning ticket.

The couple decided to receive the 26-year annuity and already took their first instalment in excess of $1 million after taxes. For the following 25 years, the couple is to receive an annual payment of over $1 million.

Revealing the reason behind the decision Crane said: “The choice was simply that it is easy to control. I can make lots of plans on how to spend that money.”

On the other hand, however, it may also be a good decision to select the annuity option, rather than the lump sum due to the current state of the market. 

For selling the winning ticket, Stoney Creek Party Shoppe will receive a $50,000 bonus.