“I was in Michigan visiting family and stopped at the store on my way to the airport,” said the lucky 46-year-old player, who chose to remain anonymous. “I told the cashier to give me a few lottery tickets and then stuffed them in my bag to scratch later.
“I forgot about the tickets, so it wasn’t until a few days later that I found them and scratched them off. When I saw I’d won $1 million, I thought: ‘This can’t be real.’ I sent a picture of the ticket to my friend to make sure I was reading it right, and he thought it was a prank ticket. We were both in disbelief. This is such a blessing!”
The player bought his winning ticket at Forest Liquor, located at 4535 Trumbull Street in Detroit. He recently visited Lottery headquarters to claim the big prize. He chose to receive his prize as a one-time lump sum payment of about $693,000 rather than annuity payments for the full amount. With his winnings, he plans to take a trip and then save the remainder.
Players have won more than $13 million playing Lucky Numbers, which launched in December. Each $10 ticket offers players a chance to win prizes ranging from $10 up to $1 million. More than $32 million in prizes remain, including two $1 million top prizes, 15 $10,000 prizes, and 161 $1,000 prizes.
In 2025, Lottery players won more than $1.7 billion playing instant games.
Lottery instant games may be purchased at retailers across the state.