Michigan Lottery: Illinois Man Wins Big After Employee Error

It already takes a stroke of luck to win the lottery in general, but what are the odds of winning due to someone else's mistake? And even more lucky to win in another state. That's what recently happened when one fortunate Illinois man hit it big with his Michigan Lottery win.

And the Winner Is...

Illinois resident Michael Sopejstal, 60 walked into a Michigan gas station and walked out a winner for life, according to Michigan Lottery. And it was all because of a mistake the gas station employee made when Sopejstal purchased his ticket:

“I come to Michigan every few weeks to eat at my favorite restaurant and I always get a Lucky for Life ticket for 10 or 20 draws while I’m here,” said Sopejstal. “I asked the retailer for a ticket for 10 draws, but he accidentally printed a ticket with 10 lines for one draw, but I told him I still wanted it."

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Where the Lucky Winner Hit it Big

Sopejstal bought his winning ticket at the GoLo gas station in New Buffalo, MI. He won the $25,000 for life prize when he matched the five winning numbers ranging from 1 to 48. In his case, they were 11, 15, 17, 24, and 48. The top prize, which requires players to match an extra Lucky Ball in addition to the first five, is $1,000 a day for life. He told the Michigan Lottery:

“I checked my ticket one morning and saw that I had won $25,000 a year for life. I immediately started thinking about all the things I could do with the money and whether I wanted to take the lump sum or annuity option. It was an amazing feeling!”

Sopejstal chose to receive his winnings as a one-time lump sum payment of $390,000.