An Alpena County man’s daily routine turned into a life-changing moment when he won $500,000 playing the Michigan Lottery’s 50X Wild Time instant game.
The winner, who chose to remain anonymous, said he follows the same routine every morning.
“Each morning, I buy a newspaper, coffee, and one Lottery ticket,” he said. “When I scratched the ticket off, all I could think was: ‘Well, that’s weird.’”
After realizing he had won the top prize, he immediately told his wife. “We both just felt a sense of relief come over us,” he said. “This means so much to our family and will really take financial pressure off of us.”
The winning ticket was purchased at the Alpena Shell gas station, located at 1017 Chisolm Street in Alpena. The player recently visited Michigan Lottery headquarters to claim his prize. He plans to use the money to pay bills and save the rest.
The 50X Wild Time game launched in February 2024 and has awarded more than $60 million to players so far. Each $10 ticket offers prizes ranging from $10 to $500,000.
More than $31 million in prizes remain, including two more $500,000 top prizes, 66 prizes worth $10,000, and 116 prizes of $1,000.
