An Oakland County woman’s lucky feeling proved true when she won $1 million playing the Michigan Lottery’s Double Diamond instant game.
The lucky 59-year-old player, who chose to remain anonymous, bought her winning ticket at the Shell gas station, located at 24839 Greenfield Road in Southfield.
“I’ve been playing Double Diamond since it came out and have been very lucky on it, so I had a feeling I would win big,” said the player. “I stopped and purchased some tickets in the morning and then put them in my purse to scratch when I got home later that day.
“I was sitting in my living room scratching my tickets that night, and I scratched this Double Diamond ticket last. When I revealed the $1 million prize, I jumped up and started hollering! I had my husband look the ticket over because I thought I was seeing things.”
The player visited Lottery headquarters recently to claim her prize. She chose to receive her prize as a one-time lump sum payment of about $693,000 million rather than 30 annuity payments for the full amount. With her winnings, she plans to pay bills and then save the remainder.
“I recently retired, so this prize will provide a nice financial cushion for retirement,” the player said.
Players have won more than $24 million playing Double Diamond which launched in August. Each $10 ticket offers players a chance to win prizes ranging from $10 up to $1 million. More than $28 million in prizes remain, including one $1 million top prizes, 11 $10,000 prizes, and 80 $2,000 prizes.
In 2021, Lottery players won more than $1.8 billion playing instant games.