Dryden Man Gets Surprise Christmas Gift – $1 Million Powerball Win

A Lucky Lapeer County Lottery player is celebrating the new year after getting a huge holiday surprise. He discovered he had won a $1 million prize from the Michigan Lottery.

Robert Benaglio (pictured) of Dryden matched all five white balls for the December 23 Powerball drawing, making him a $1 million winner. Benaglio was the only player to match all five white balls. Had he also matched the Powerball, he would have won an estimated $108 million jackpot.

Dryden Man Gets a Christmas and New Year's Surprise

Benaglio tells the Michigan Lottery that he bought his winning ticket just before Christmas but didn't know he was a winner until more than a week later.

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"I have bought a Powerball ticket for one drawing each week for 10 years," Benaglio said. "I won the prize just before Christmas, but I didn’t know I was a big winner until I scanned the ticket on New Year's Eve."

The lucky player went on to say that finding out he was a $1 million winner was shocking.

"I think it’s finally starting to hit me and I’m just now believing that this is real!" he said.

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Player Plans to Continue Buying Powerball Tickets

Mr. Menaglio says he plans to use his winnings to pay off his car loans, take a vacation, and save the rest. He also plans to keep buying Powerball tickets.

I still plan to continue my weekly ritual of buying a Powerball ticket," he said. "I get $2 worth of daydreaming out of it each week, so why not?"