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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
World
Rachel Dobkin

Michigan man wins huge lottery jackpot after accidentally buying ticket: ‘I hadn’t been having luck with it’

A lucky Michigan man has won a huge lottery jackpot worth $1.05 million after accidentally buying a ticket.

The 68-year-old, who wished to remain anonymous, went into a gas station in South Lyon, less than a 30-minute drive northeast of Ann Arbor, to play some Fast Cash games.

“Whenever I stop to get gas and the Fast Cash jackpot is over $700,000, I’ll buy a few tickets,” he said in a Michigan Lottery blog post.

The man isn’t picky about which instant-win games cashiers choose to give him, “but lately I’ve been saying any except the Detroit Lions game because I hadn’t been having luck with it.”

But his luck turned around after he accidentally bought a Detroit Lions Rush for Riches game.

“I forgot to tell the cashier that this time, and the Detroit Lions game is what he printed for me,” the man explained.

He then put the ticket in his pocket and checked it the following day.

“The next morning when I looked over the ticket and saw I’d won the jackpot, I stopped my wife as she was walking by, handed her the ticket, and said: ‘You’re not going to believe this!’

“Once she saw what I’d won, she started crying. It was an exciting and emotional day for us,” the man said.

The 68-year-old bought the winning ticket at a gas station in South Lyon, less than a 30-minute drive northeast of Ann Arbor (AFP via Getty Images)
The 68-year-old bought the winning ticket at a gas station in South Lyon, less than a 30-minute drive northeast of Ann Arbor (AFP via Getty Images)

The man plans to use the jackpot to take care of his family.

“All I’ve been thinking since winning is how glad I am that I forgot to tell the cashier not to give me the Detroit Lions game!” he said.

The Detroit Lions Rush for Riches game costs $10 a ticket.

The Michigan Lottery said that last year, one of its players won more than $54 million playing Fast Cash games.

A 59-year-old bus driver from Washington, D.C., Maurice Williams, also recently won a big jackpot from a scratch-off card.

Williams told the Maryland Lottery last month that he’d use his $5 million in winnings to buy his mother a house and that he’ll figure out what to do with the rest of the money later.

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