A 64-year-old Genesee County man is $500,000 richer after a gas-station stop on the drive home from vacation turned into a nearly-skipped impulse buy.
He told Michigan Lottery officials he had no plan to buy a ticket when he pulled into a Shell station on South Main Street in Standish, about two hours north of Detroit. While waiting in line, he watched the customer ahead of him buy a stack of scratch-offs and decided to grab a few himself: two Detroit Tigers-branded instant games for himself, two Cashword tickets for his wife.
The tickets sat untouched for the rest of the drive home. That night, the couple sat down at their kitchen table to scratch them — and one of the Tigers tickets turned up a $500,000 top prize.
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.
Genesee County lottery winner, via Michigan Lottery
He told officials the win still doesn't feel entirely real. "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," he said, according to WNEM's report on the win. He plans to bank the money toward retirement and share a portion with his children.
A summer of scratch-off stories
Michigan Lottery announced the win on Aug. 18, one of several instant-game jackpots the agency has certified this year through its rotating slate of scratch-off games, sold at retailers statewide alongside its Detroit Tigers and Cashword lines. ABC12's coverage and other Genesee County outlets have followed the win as part of a run of local lottery stories this summer, though the odds of any single ticket hitting a top prize remain long — Michigan Lottery publishes exact odds for every game on its official rules pages.
The lottery does not identify instant-game winners by name unless they choose to go public, so the man's identity has not been released. As with all Michigan Lottery prizes above $600, the winnings are subject to standard state and federal tax withholding before payout, and winners typically have the option to collect a lump sum or, for larger draw-game jackpots, an annuity — though instant-game prizes like this one are paid as a single lump sum.