Michigan Woman Thinks She’s Won $1,000, Scratches Her Way to $500K

A Michigan woman who thought she'd won $1,000 on an instant scratch-off ticket found out she was wrong - and that she had actually won a cool half-million.

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Here's What We Know

The 61-year-old woman is from Muskegon County and has chosen to remain anonymous. She routinely picks up her lottery tickets at the same store, but says she made a wrong turn several months ago and had to take a detour. This meant she had to stop for gas, so she stopped at a BP gas station in Muskegon and purchased a 'Cashword Times 10' instant ticket.

“I always purchase my tickets from the same store and was planning to stop there on my way home to get a Cashword ticket,” said the player. “I accidentally made a wrong turn and had to take a different route home, so I stopped at a gas station on the way.

That wrong turn paid off because the woman scratched the ticket when she got home and (erroneously) thought she was a $1,000 winner.

Three Months Later ...

The woman tells the Michigan Lottery that she decided to wait before cashing in her, um, $1,000 ticket.

“Three months later, I went to the Lottery office to cash it. When the Lottery employee told me the ticket was a $500,000 winner, I couldn’t believe it! It was hard to grasp what was going on.”

 

She's Made a Wise Choice

How does the woman plan to spend her $500,000? She tells the lottery that she plans to use the winnings to pay off her home and save the rest toward her retirement.