Seattle lottery ticket worth $2.5 million goes unclaimed
$2.5M winning ticket purchased in Seattle
A winning lottery ticket was sold at a Safeway in West Seattle, and Kristi Weeks, the Director of Legal Services at Washington's Lottery, joins Good Day Seattle to talk about how to claim your prize.
SEATTLE - A winning lottery ticket for Saturday's drawing was sold in Seattle, but the winner hasn't come forward to claim their prize.
What we know:
According to Washington's Lottery, the ticket was sold at a Safeway in West Seattle, located along California Avenue SW.
The winning ticket is for $2.5 million.
The winning numbers were: 1, 10, 23, 27, 28, and 49.
Unclaimed $365K lottery ticket sold in Seattle
Someone in Seattle won a $365,000 lottery ticket prize last week. However, no one has come forward to claim it as of Tuesday.
How to claim a lottery prize
What they're saying:
Kristi Weeks, the director of legal services for Washington's Lottery, was on FOX 13's Good Day Seattle Tuesday morning to explain what to do if you find yourself with a winning ticket.
Weeks said the first thing someone with a winning ticket should do is to sign it.
"[The ticket] belongs to whoever has signed it," Weeks said. "Sign it, place it somewhere safe, dry, and don't tell anybody about it."
The next step is deciding whether you want to claim it as a lump sum or as an annuity.
"If you want to take the cash now, you get 50% now," Weeks explained. "Or you can claim it as an annuity over the course of 25 years and get payments every year."
Then, you decide whether you need an attorney or financial advisor to help you manage your new funds.
Lump sum vs. annuity
When deciding whether to take it all upfront or spread out over time, Weeks says the decision depends on a variety of factors.
"If you're in your 70s, maybe you don't want 25 years of payments because that can be an estate planning problem," she said. "But also, how savvy are you with investing? Because if you take the lump sum and invest it properly, you can end up making a lot more."
Where does the money go?
By the numbers:
According to Washington's Lottery, the largest portion of money that comes in from lottery sales goes to winners. In 2025, about $594 million was disbursed to people with winning tickets, which accounted for about 63% of the system's funds.
The next chunk of change goes to the Washington Opportunity Pathways Account (WOPA), which "provides much-needed funding for programs including early childhood education, the WA Grant and College Bound program, Washington Award for Vocational Excellence, GET Ready for Math and Science scholarships, and more," according to the state lottery system's website. This accounts for about 19% of the system's funds.
The next portion, about 7%, goes to "cost of sales." In 2025, this equaled a little over $61 million.
Another 5% goes to the retailers who sell the tickets, which totaled about $47 million last year.
The last 5% or so is split among categories listed as "General Fund," "Administration," "Economic Development," and "Problem Gambling."
What's next:
The winner of the unclaimed $2.5 million ticket will have 180 days, or about six months, from the date of drawing to claim their prize.
The Source: Information for this story came from Washington's Lottery and an interview on FOX 13's Good Day Seattle.
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