A Kalamazoo County man’s dream of winning a big Lottery prize came true when he won $300,000 playing the Michigan Lottery’s X’s and O’s Bingo instant game.

The lucky 58-year-old player, who chose to remain anonymous, bought the winning ticket at South Westnedge Market, located at 819 South Westnedge Avenue in Kalamazoo.

“I bought the ticket and gave it to my wife to scratch,” said the player. “She didn’t see that the prize for a blackout is $300,000, so she thought we won $500. We took the ticket to the store to double check it and thought the machine was broken when a message came up to file a claim at the Lottery office.

“We handed the ticket to the person working and had them check it. When they told us we won $300,000, I felt like I was going to have a heart attack! We got in the car and drove straight to the Lottery headquarters Lansing! It’s still hard to believe this is really happening.”

The lucky player visited Lottery headquarters recently to claim his big prize. With his winnings, he plans to purchase a home and pay it forward.

“It’s always been a dream of ours to be at the Lottery headquarters claiming a big prize, and today that dream became a reality!” the player said.

Players have won more than $13 million playing X’s and O’s Bingo, which launched in June 2023. Each $5 ticket offers players a chance to win prizes ranging from $5 up to $300,000. More than $12 million in prizes remain, including one $300,000 top prize, four $10,000 prizes, and 35 $2,000 prizes.

In 2023, Lottery players won more than $1.7 billion playing instant games.

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