March 18 (UPI) -- A Michigan woman whose local store was sold out of the lottery ticket she wanted to buy was forced to choose a replacement -- and won a $1 million prize.
The Kent County resident told Michigan Lottery officials she visited a local store with a specific scratch-off lottery ticket in mind, but arrived to find the game was sold out.
"The store didn't have the game I wanted to buy, so I decided to try my luck on the Wild Cherry game," the player recalled. "I scratched the bar code and scanned the ticket. When I read the message that I needed to file a claim I thought I had won $10,000."
The woman said the store clerk helped her realize her prize was actually much larger.
"I gave the ticket back to the clerk and had her check it," she said. "She helped me scratch the rest of it off, and when she saw I had hit $1 million, she screamed: 'She just won $1 million!'"
The winner said her prize money will go toward buying a new home and bolstering her savings.
"Never knowing when you might find a winning ticket is part of what makes playing instant games fun," Lottery Commissioner Suzanna Shkreli said. "Winning $1 million, especially on a game you are playing for the first time, is an incredibly exciting way to win!"
