The couple that plays together, stays together. At least that’s the case for a Wayne County couple that won $1 million playing the Michigan Lottery’s Emerald 10’s instant game.

“We’ve played Lottery together for years,” said the husband. “Sometimes I’ll buy tickets and she’ll scratch them, or the other way around. This time, I happened to buy the ticket and she scratched it off.”

“When I scratched the ticket and saw ‘$1,000,000’ I started squealing and jumping around,” said the wife. “The butterflies still haven’t gone away. It’s a great feeling!”

The pair of 50-year-old players, who chose to remain anonymous, visited Lottery headquarters recently to claim the big prize. They chose to receive their prize as a one-time lump sum payment of about $634,000, rather than annuity payments for the full amount. With their winnings, they plan to pay bills and then invest the remainder.

Players have won more than $14 million playing Emerald 10’s, which launched in October 2019. Each $10 ticket offers players a chance to win prizes ranging from $10 up to $1 million. More than $31 million in prizes remain, including two top prizes of $1 million, 25 $10,000 prizes, and 89 $1,000 prizes.

Lottery instant games may be purchased at 10,500 retailers across the state.

In 2019, Lottery players won more than $1.2 billion playing instant games.