Man uses $40 in lottery winnings to win $500,000 jackpot

May 5 (UPI) -- A Michigan man who won a $40 prize from a lottery ticket decided to reinvest his winnings into more tickets -- and won $500,000.

The 74-year-old Hillsdale County man told Michigan Lottery officials he took his winning lottery ticket to the Sand Lake Party Store in Hillsdale to redeem his prize.

"I was cashing in a $40 winning ticket and used my winnings to buy more tickets," the player said. "I scratched the tickets as soon as I got in my car and the Lucky No. 13 ticket was the last one that I scratched."

The player said his eyes initially deceived him about his prize.

"I thought I'd won $500, so I put on my glasses and looked the ticket over again to make sure I was reading it right. When I realized I had actually won $500,000, I couldn't believe it! I had my wife look the ticket over and when she confirmed I'd won $500,000, we called our family to tell them the good news," he said.

The winner said his prize money will go toward paying bills and completing home improvement projects.