A stop for gas on the way home from vacation turned into a $500,000 payday for a Genesee County man who won $500,000 playing the Detroit Tigers instant game!

“My wife and I were on our way home from vacation and stopped to get gas,” said the lucky 64-year-old player, who chose to remain anonymous. “When I was in line to cash out, the person ahead of me bought several scratch-off tickets, which inspired me to buy a few. I bought two Detroit Tigers tickets for myself and two Cashword tickets for my wife.

“We sat down at the table later that night and scratched our tickets. When I saw I had a $500,000 winner, I was in disbelief. My wife and I looked at the ticket numerous times to make sure we were reading it right. I kept thinking I misread the directions and just won a smaller amount on the ticket because I couldn’t wrap my head around it actually being a $500,000 winner!”

The player bought his winning ticket at the Shell gas station, located at 201 South Main Street in Standish. Standish is about 45 miles north of Saginaw. He recently visited Lottery headquarters to claim the big prize. He plans to use his winnings as a cushion for retirement and share some with his kids.

“You work your whole life to save for retirement, so it feels unreal to make the same amount of money you worked years for in one day,” the player said.

Players have won more than $26 million playing the Detroit Tigers instant game, which launched in April 2025. Each $5 ticket offers players a chance to win prizes ranging from $5 up to $500,000. More than $5 million in prizes remain, including one $500,000 top prize and one $1,000 prize.

In 2025, Lottery players won more than $1.7 billion playing instant games.

Lottery instant games may be purchased at retailers across the state.