What a Kent County man thought was a $1,000 prize, turned out to be a $500,000 10X Cashword top prize.

The lucky player, who chose to remain anonymous, bought his winning ticket at the Family Fare, located at 201 Marcell Drive Northeast in Rockford.

“I love playing the Cashword tickets and I buy them all the time,” said the 70-year-old player. “I was scratching my ticket and thought I had for sure lost on it. I scratched the last letter, ‘I,’ and was able to reveal a few words with it. I thought I’d won $1,000, until I realized I had 10 words for a $500,000 prize.

“I didn’t let myself get excited at first because I thought I was reading it wrong and that there was no way I had won $500,000. Once I called and verified it with the Lottery, I was shocked!”

The lucky player visited Lottery headquarters to claim his prize. He plans to use his winnings for retirement.

Players have won more than $29 million playing 10X Cashword, which launched in April. Each $10 ticket offers players a chance to win prizes ranging from $10 up to $500,000. More than $20 million in prizes remain, including five $1,000 prizes.

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

In 2020, Lottery players won more than $1.5 billion playing instant games.