Man ‘having a bad day’ leaves work and buys a Michigan lottery ticket — then wins big

A 40-year-old Michigan man says he “was having a bad day” when he decided to leave work early and buy a lottery ticket on his way home.

That decision turned his day upside down.

“When I scratched the ticket and saw I’d won $1 million, all I could think was: ‘There is no way this is real,’” he told the Michigan Lottery, according to a June 27 news release.

He needed to see it two more times before he really believed his luck had turned around.

“I took the ticket back in to the store to scan it and got a message to file a claim,” the Clinton County man told lottery officials. “I still was having a hard time believing it was real, so I scanned it on the Lottery app to confirm. It was an unbelievable feeling when the amount of $1 million came up on the screen!”

The man recently went to claim his prize, where he was given two options: 30 annuity payments worth the full $1 million or a one-time payment of about $634,000.

He chose the lump sum payment, officials said, and plans to buy a new truck before saving the rest of his newfound cash.

The man, whose name was not released, bought his winning ticket at J&H Family Stores in Owosso, about 25 miles west of Flint.

If you or a loved one shows signs of gambling addiction, you can seek help by calling the national gambling hotline at 1-800-522-4700 or visiting the National Council on Problem Gambling website.

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