Stunned player kept thinking "This can't be right"

By Kate Northrop

JACKSON, Mich. — A Michigan man in complete shock from winning $300,000 from a scratch-off needed a second pair of eyes to make sure that he was seeing his ticket correctly.

The anonymous winner was at a loss for words after making a one-off decision to try out an instant game while visiting the Meijer gas station on East Michigan Avenue in Jackson. He picked out a "$300,000 Winter Spectacular" scratch-off ticket for $5.

"I haven't played an instant game in a while, so I decided to purchase a few while I was out," the Jackson resident told the Michigan Lottery.

He was completely unprepared for the outcome.

"When I saw I had won $300,000, I couldn't believe it," he said in a press release. "I kept looking the ticket over thinking, 'This can't be right.'"

The number on the ticket was as real as could be, but he still could not believe he was holding a ticket worth $300,000. He had to enlist outside help to verify the dollar amount right in front of him.

"I called my son right away and had him come look the ticket over," the winner told the Michigan Lottery. "He confirmed what I was seeing and we both stood there in shock."

All that was left to do was claim the prize at Lottery headquarters in Lansing, which he plans on using to help his family and invest.

According to the Lottery, the "$300,000 Winter Spectacular" has awarded at least $7 million in prizes to players since the game launched in December, with more than $8 million in prizes remaining. As of now, there is one top prizes of $300,000 remaining out of the three originally available, 10 second prizes of $2,000 out of 19, and 42 third prizes of $500 out of 94 left to claim.