Lucky Saginaw County Resident Wins $4M from Instant Game

A lucky player who purchased instant game tickets in Michigan initially thought that a lottery scanner was faulty. The man, who chose to remain anonymous, was pleasantly surprised to realize that he actually won a staggering $4 million prize from the Michigan Lottery’s $4,000,000 Ultimate Instant Game.

The 52-year-old man from Saginaw County visited a convenience store called Fastlane on 3540 State Street in Saginaw. The man purchased a couple of tickets and scratched the barcodes off.

When scanning one of the tickets, he received a message to “file a claim.” Seeing the strange message, the man scanned the ticket once again only to see it appear again.

The lottery player then proceeded to scan the second ticket which scanned alright. At the time, the 52-year-old thought that the scanner was faulty and went back to his car only to realize that he scored one of the game’s top prizes.

The $4,000,000 Ultimate Instant Game from the Virginia Lottery costs $30 per play. The game grants the players a chance to secure a prize between $30 and $4 million.

The latest win marked the first grand prize won from the popular instant game. Besides two other grand prizes, the $4,000,000 Ultimate Instant Game features 163 outstanding prizes of $10,000 each, as well as 261 prizes of $3,000 each, among other lower-tier prizes. According to the Michigan Lottery, the overall odds of winning a prize from the instant game are 1 in 3.20.

Instant Win Games Grant a Chance for Life-Changing Prizes

Suzanna Shkreli, the Michigan Lottery’s commissioner, congratulated the lucky winner. She outlined that instant games grant residents and visitors of the state a chance to win life-changing prizes instantly. “Instant games are some of the Lottery’s most popular games and helped the Lottery’s contribution to the School Aid Fund climb to $1.3 billion in 2023,” Shkreli added.

“Michigan Lottery instant games give Michiganders a chance to win life-changing prizes in an instant. Congratulations to this lucky player and his family.“

Suzanna Shkreli, commissioner at the Michigan Lottery

Recently, the lucky player visited the Lottery to claim his prize. When asked what he plans to do with the win, the 52-year-old said he intends to purchase land and invest it.

Although the winner had the option to collect the entire prize through an annuity, they selected a lump cash sum. This granted the winner $2.7 million, before the relevant applicable taxes.