A little lottery research led to a $1M surprise for a Michigan woman

A Michigan woman did a little research before scratching her lottery ticket, and minutes later, she had a $1 million reason to be glad she checked. A 67-year-old Macomb County woman, who chose to remain anonymous, has won one of the top prizes playing the Michigan Lottery’s 50X instant game. However, before she scratched off the big win, she checked out the lottery’s website to see whether any $1 million prizes were still available. That little research paid off big time.

There were two top prizes remaining

After checking the website, the lucky woman discovered there were two top prizes remaining for the $10 instant game. Despite that, her husband wasn’t convinced either one was still waiting to be found. It didn’t take her long to prove him wrong.

The woman told lottery officials, “When I scratched the ticket and saw the $1 million win, I slid the ticket over to him and said: ‘I told you they were out there!’”

However, this winning story actually started a day earlier. The day before buying the winning ticket, she and her husband were at a store. He asked if she wanted to buy some lottery tickets, but she passed because she had a specific party store in mind to buy them from.

The next day, she went to that store and bought a few 50X tickets. She headed home, and before scratching them, she checked to see that there were two top prizes of $1 million remaining.

After getting the $1 million win, the couple sat in silence for a while as they tried to process what had happened. Once that initial shock wore off, they started making phone calls and sharing the big news with family.

Research doesn't change the odds

While checking how many prizes remain can tell a player whether a game’s top prizes have all been claimed, it doesn’t reveal where the remaining winning tickets are. It also doesn’t make a particular ticket more likely to win.

In this case, the Macomb County woman’s research simply confirmed that the prize she was hoping to find was still listed as available.

Her decision to wait and go to a specific party store also happened to work out. She bought the winning ticket at Diamond Dot Market, located at 38500 Hayes Road in Clinton Township. 

The lucky winner recently made her way to Michigan Lottery headquarters to claim her prize. She chose to receive the winnings as a one-time lump-sum payment of about $693,000 before taxes.

She already had plans for the money. The Macomb County woman told lottery officials she wants to pay off her grandchild’s student loans, buy a new truck, and take a vacation.

More than $48 million won

The 50X instant game is a $10 ticket that launched in February 2025. The game offers prizes ranging from $10 to $1 million.

Since the game’s launch, players have claimed over $48 million in prizes.

This win comes after another big year for Michigan’s instant games. In 2025, lottery players in Michigan won over $1.7 billion from instant tickets. For this Macomb County winner, one quick look at the remaining prizes gave her something even better than information: the opportunity to tell her husband she was right.

Enjoy playing the Michigan Lottery, and please remember to play responsibly.