A Manistee County man is packing his bags for a vacation to Florida after winning a $500,000 prize playing the Michigan Lottery’s The Perfect Gift instant game.

The lucky 48-year-old player, who chose to remain anonymous, purchased his winning ticket at the Wesco gas station, located at 75 Cypress Street in Manistee.

“I’ve played The Perfect Gift quite a bit since it came out and have won a little here and there,” said the player. “I won $10 on one ticket, so I used my winnings to purchase another one. When I scratched the ticket off and saw I’d won $500,000, all I could think was: ‘Is this real?’ I had my girlfriend check the ticket over to make sure I was reading it right.”

The player visited Lottery headquarters recently to claim his prize. With his winnings, he plans to take a vacation to Florida.

“Winning is a great feeling and couldn’t have happened at a better time,” said the player.

Players have won more than $8 million playing The Perfect Gift which launched in October. Each $10 ticket offers players a chance to win prizes ranging from $10 up to $500,000. More than $24 million in prizes remain, including two $500,000 top prizes and 15 $2,000 prizes.

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

In 2021, Lottery players won more than $1.8 billion playing instant games.