It was worth a second glance
By Kate Northrop
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — "Always double-check your tickets" is probably what one lucky Michigan man would tell any lottery player after he nearly threw out a winning scratch-off ticket worth $500,000.
A Grand Rapids player thought he held a losing lottery ticket, but a second glance saved him from making a decision that would have cost him $500,000.
The player, who chose to remain anonymous, stopped at the Meijer gas station on Wilson Avenue Northwest in Grand Rapids, and the Michigan Lottery's "$500,000 Jumbo Cash" game caught his eye.
"I like to play the new instant games each month, so I bought a few of the $500,000 Jumbo Cash tickets," the 74-year-old player explained.
Having never experienced luck of this magnitude before, he almost tossed the tickets in the bin thinking they weren't worth anything.
"I scratched the ticket off and thought it was a loser," the lucky winner recalled. "I looked it over one more time before throwing it away and realized I'd matched the seven. When I revealed the amount, I though, 'This can't be. This kind of luck never happens to me.'"
As it turned out, the unsuspecting winner won the first top prize of $500,000 of three available in the "$500,000 Jumbo Cash" game.
He visited Lottery headquarters in Lansing to claim his prize, which he will use to pay off debt and purchase a new home, according to a press release.
Players still have a chance to win two of the remaining top prizes of $500,000, 19 second prizes worth $2,000 out of 20, and 398 third prizes of $500 out of 490 in the game, which launched in May.
"I couldn't believe it," the man said. "It still hasn't sunk in yet."
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Phenomenal payout for a FIVE dollar ticket...had to do double take.
Glad the ticket was checked again and Congratulations.
Where I used to live there was a lady who would go up and down the main roads every evening before the stores closed and collect as many losing tickets from inside the stores as she could get. My state has a system set up where you can replay losing tickets online and win big prizes. I can imagine her picking up the "Jumbo Cash" ticket that this guy threw away. No one would ever see her again.
I'm gonna start going through the garbage!! That's where the winning tickets ate
Several years ago found a $200 ticket in the trash...took it to another store to cash in and some guy said it was his. Said came from Pilot, not here. Should have just ignored him. Anyway I still dumpster dive to find non-winners to put them in for secondary prizes.
Pilot can't put their new tickets in the almost depleted IGT machine. Asked the clerk about it last night and said they have to get something from Corporate. Has something to do with security obviously, so if someone like that clown in FL stole the tickets they'd be worthless.