A Lotto fan has scooped a USD 4 million jackpot after rolling over money from an earlier prize to buy a mega-winning scratchcard.
The 54-year-old player from Grand Rapids, Michigan State, USA, was so stunned at the win he thought he was being pranked with a fake ticket.
But he was astonished when he called lottery bosses, who confirmed his win.
The winner, not named by the Michigan State lottery, had bought his winning ticket with cash fron an earlier USD 50 (GBP 40) scratchcard win.
He said in a statement obtained by Newsflash: “I won USD 50 [GBP 40] on an instant game, and wanted to reinvest my winnings.
“The store was sold out of the USD 50 [GBP 40] instant games, so I decided on a USD 30 [GBP 24] ticket instead.”
He continued: “When I scratched the ticket and saw I’d won USD 4 million [GBP 3.2 million], the first thing I did was call my brother.
“He told me to make sure it wasn’t one of those prank lottery tickets, so I flipped it over and read through the fine print on the back.
“Once I confirmed it indeed was not a prank, I called the Lottery to have them confirm the prize as well.”
Lottery headquarters gave him the choice of a one-off lump sum or 30 yearly payments.
He chose the cash and went home with USD 2.7 million (GBP 2.2 million).
He added: “Winning still feels unreal, but I think it’s really going to sink in once I cash my cheque.”
He told how he plans to use the cash to pay off bills and travel.
Michigan Lottery officials said: “Players have won more than USD 61 million [GBP 49 million] playing Millionaire’s Club, which launched in February.
“Each USD 30 [GBP 24] ticket offers players a chance to win prizes ranging from USD 30 [GBP 24] up to USD 4 million [GBP 3.2 million].
“More than USD 96 million [GBP 78 million] in prizes remain, including two USD 4 million [GBP 3.2 million] top prizes, 16 USD 10,000 [GBP 8,134] prizes, and 211 USD 2,000 [GBP 1,626] prizes.
“In 2022, Lottery players won more than USD 1.7 billion [GBP 1.4] playing instant games.
“Lottery instant games may be purchased at any of the 10,500 retailers across the state.”
