A lucky encounter led a Wayne County man to win $2 million playing the Michigan Lottery's $2,000,000 Jackpot instant game.
The lucky player, who chose to remain anonymous, bought his ticket at Discount Tobacco, located at 19176 Telegraph Road in Brownstown.
"I was in Discount Tobacco and watched a guy scratch off a few $2,000,000 Jackpot instant game tickets," said the player. "I asked the guy playing if he minded if I bought a couple tickets. He told me to go ahead because he hadn't been having any luck.
"I bought two tickets and scratched them off and the guy was just as stunned as I was that I'd hit a $2 million prize. He told me he was happy for me, but I imagine that probably stung a little bit."
The 51-year-old player then headed home to share the big news with his wife.
"I had to convince her I wasn't joking," said the player. "Once I finally did that, we both kept saying how stunned we were."
The player visited Lottery headquarters on Tuesday to claim the big prize. With his winnings, he plans to pay off his home, buy a new truck, share with his church, and then save the remainder.
"Winning makes everything just a little easier and takes a lot of weight off my back," the player said.
Players have won more than $11.6 million playing $2,000,000 Jackpot, which launched in August. Each $20 ticket offers players a chance to win prizes ranging from $20 up to $2 million. More than $87 million in prizes remain, including two $2 million top prizes, 15 $10,000 prizes, and 495 $2,000 prizes.
Lottery instant games may be purchased at 11,000 retailers across the state.
In 2017, Lottery players won more than $960 million playing instant games.
About 97 cents of every dollar spent on Lottery tickets is returned to the state in the form of contributions to the state School Aid Fund, prizes to players and commissions to vendors and retailers. In the 2017 fiscal year, the Lottery's contribution to Michigan's public schools was a record $924.1M. Since it began in 1972, the Lottery has contributed more than $21B to support public education in Michigan. For additional information, follow the Michigan Lottery on Facebook [click.noreply.michiganlottery.com], Instagram [click.noreply.michiganlottery.com], Twitter [click.noreply.michiganlottery.com] and online at www.michiganlottery.com [click.noreply.michiganlottery.com].
