A Calhoun County man had a remarkable start to his vacation when he made a pit stop on the way and won a $300,000 prize playing the Michigan Lottery’s X’s & O’s Bingo instant game.

The lucky 40-year-old player, who chose to remain anonymous, bought his winning ticket at Alma EZ Mart, located at 100 West Lincoln Road in Alma.

“We were heading to Northern Michigan for a family vacation, and I stopped to buy a Lottery ticket on the way,” said the player. “I scratched the barcode right away and scanned the ticket. When I saw the winning amount, I thought: ‘This can’t be real.’

“I showed my wife, and she took the ticket and started scanning it over and over. When $300,000 continued coming up on the screen, we both started hollering!”

The player recently visited Lottery headquarters to claim his prize.

“Winning is amazing,” said the player. “I am going to pay off my home and then celebrate by taking my wife out to a nice dinner.”

Players have won more than $5 million playing X’s & O’s Bingo which launched in June. Each $5 ticket offers players a chance to win prizes ranging from $5 up to $300,000. More than $20 million in prizes remain, including two $300,000 prizes, eight $10,000 prizes, and 58 $2,000 prizes.

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