The lucky player, who chose to remain anonymous, bought the winning ticket at the Westland Food Store, located at 1690 South Venoy Road in Westland.
“I won $2,500 playing Classic Black a few months ago and I’ve stuck with it ever since,” said the 67-year-old player. “When I scratched the ticket off and saw I matched the ‘$2MIL’ symbol I couldn’t believe it.
“I said to my wife: ‘You’re not going to believe this.’ and showed her the ticket. Holding the winning ticket makes me feel like I’m in a dream.”
The lucky player recently visited Lottery headquarters to claim the big prize. He chose to receive his winnings as a one-time lump sum payment of about $1.3 million, rather than annuity payments for the full amount.
He plans to share some of his winnings with his family, donate to charities, buy a new home, and then save the remainder.
“I keep pinching myself expecting to wake up and find out this is a dream, but now that I’m holding the check it all feels real,” the player said.
Players have won more than $61 million playing Classic Black, which launched in March 2018. Each $20 ticket offers players a chance to win prizes ranging from $20 up to $2 million. More than $37 million in prizes remain, including one $2 million top prize, 10 $10,000 prizes, 40 $5,000 prizes, and 81 $2,500 prizes.
Lottery instant games may be purchased at 10,500 retailers across the state.
In 2018, Lottery players won more than $1 billion playing instant games.