A 26-year-old Genesee County man was inspired to buy a Michigan Lottery ticket after a character in a movie, who just so happened to be his look-alike, won a Lottery prize, and he ended up winning $500,000 playing the Lucky No. 13 instant game!

The lucky player, who chose to remain anonymous, bought the winning ticket at the E-Z Stop Food Mart, located at 5106 North Saginaw Street in Flint.

“I was watching a movie and the main character won big on a lottery ticket. The main character was my look-alike, so I took it as a sign to go buy a ticket.

“Later that day, I was with some friends and scratched the ticket. When I saw I’d won $500,000, I couldn’t believe my eyes! I wanted to make sure what I was seeing was real before sharing the news with my friends, so I went into the bathroom to look the ticket over again. Once I confirmed what I was seeing, I called my girlfriend to tell her the good news. I feel so blessed to win this amount of money!”

The lucky player visited Lottery headquarters recently to claim his big prize. With his winnings, he plans to take care of his kids and take a vacation.

Players have won more than $23 million playing Lucky No. 13, which launched in April 2023. Each $5 ticket offers players a chance to win prizes ranging from $5 up to $500,000. More than $8 million in prizes remain, including one $500,000 top prize and two $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.