A Clinton County woman almost threw away her ticket before realizing she won $1 million playing the Michigan Lottery’s Sizzling Hot 7’s instant game.

The lucky 30-year-old player, who chose to remain anonymous, bought her winning ticket at Hansen’s Quik Stop, located at 8998 East M-21 in Ovid. Ovid is about 30 miles northeast of Lansing.

“I always play the new instant tickets when they come out each month,” said the player. “I was at the store one night and decided to buy two of the Sizzling Hot 7’s tickets since it is a newer game. I scratched the tickets when I got in my car and thought they were both non-winners, so I put them in a bag with some other garbage to throw away.

“The next morning, I decided to look the tickets over one more time before throwing them away. When I saw I’d won $1 million, my heart started racing and I thought I was going to faint. I called my mom and my husband right away to tell them the good news! I am so glad I decided to look the ticket over again before throwing it away.”

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 rather than 30 annuity payments for the full amount. With her winnings, she plans to purchase a home and invest.

Players have won more than $15 million playing Sizzling Hot 7’s which launched in January. Each $10 ticket offers players a chance to win prizes ranging from $10 up to $1 million. More than $46 million in prizes remain, including two $1 million top prizes, 21 $10,000 prizes, and 178 $2,000 prizes.

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