Michigan man instant-wins $500,000

A lottery player from St. Joseph's County, who prefers to remain anonymous, has won $500,000 from Michigan Lottery's Winter Ice instant-win game.

The 77-year-old winner and his son stopped at Jit Food and Gas, located at 130 North Washington Street in Constantine, and he bought them each a $5 scratch-off ticket. When they played the tickets, they won $10, so the father went back into the store and bought two more instant-win tickets.

In an interview with the Michigan Lottery, he said:

“My son likes the Wild Time game, so I got him one of those and I got myself a new $500,000 Winter Ice ticket after the clerk said people had been doing pretty well on it. When we scratched the tickets off, I said to my son: 'What would you say if I told you I'd won $500,000?' He replied: 'That you're full of it!' That's when I handed him the ticket and we both started screaming.”

The lucky winner plans to use his winnings to buy a new home.

How to play Winter Ice

Winter Ice is a $5 instant-win ticket with a top prize of $500,000, and you can win up to 15 times. To play, scratch off the five snowflake symbols to reveal the winning numbers. Then, remove the 12 diamond symbols to reveal your numbers. If any of your numbers match the winning numbers, you win the prize amount shown by that number. Reveal a snowman symbol and instantly win $50. Scratch of the three bonus boxes. If you reveal a hat symbol in any of the boxes, you win that prize amount, either $10, $20, or $50. The prize range is $5, $10, $15, $20, $50, $100, $500, and $500,000. There is one $500,000 jackpot remaining. You can purchase this ticket from your local lottery retailer.

If you're a fan of instant-win games, the Michigan Lottery has more than 100 for you to choose from. Their prices range from $1 to $50 to play. You can win top prizes from $500 up to $6 million. Some of the highest-paying instant-win games include:

• $6,000,000 Jackpot
• 500 Money Maker
• $300,000,000 Diamond Riches
• Ultimate Millions
• Millionaires Club

How the lottery helps Michigan

Don't forget that when you play Michigan Lottery games, you're not only gaining an opportunity to win great prizes, but each purchase you make also benefits local businesses, K-12 education, and companies that employ Michigan residents. In 2023, out of every $1 spent on lottery games, 27 cents went to support the School Aid Fund. This enabled the Michigan Lottery to contribute more than $1.3 billion to public education during that fiscal year.