Michigan Lottery Winner Scores $2M Prize from Colossal Cashword

An incredibly lucky young woman from Kalamazoo County, Michigan, won a life-changing prize after purchasing a scratch-off ticket recently. The Michigan Lottery confirmed Monday that the fortunate player chose to remain anonymous.

The Player Scored the First Top Prize from Michigan Lottery’s Colossal Cashword Game

Details are scarce but what’s known is the lucky lady is 33 years old and she purchased her winning ticket at Hoffman’s Corner Store on 5905 South Westnedge Avenue in Portage.

The lottery winner bought a $30 Colossal Cashword scratch-off ticket. To her surprise, she won the game’s first top prize for a sweet $2 million payout. The Kalamazoo County woman recently visited the Lottery headquarters to claim her winnings. As with other large lottery payouts, the winner was presented with a choice to either collect a lump cash sum that is a part of the win or take the full $2 million through annuity options.

The Michigan Lottery confirmed that the fortunate 33-year-old player selected the former option, taking home approximately $1.3 million. When the young woman was asked what her plans about the unexpected windfall are, she said that she would use it to pay bills and save the rest for her children.

Suzanna Shkreli, the Lottery’s commissioner, spoke about the popularity of instant games such as Colossal Cashword. She revealed that such games are a hit among many players. Moreover, Shkreli added: “In the last fiscal year, instant games accounted for $2.3 billion of Lottery’s sales, leading to a sixth straight contribution of more than $1 billion to the School Aid Fund.”

Realizing She Just Won $2M, the Woman Started Screaming with Joy

Speaking to representatives of the Michigan Lottery, the 33-year-old lottery player admitted that after purchasing her ticket, she immediately gave it back to the teller after only scratching off the barcode. This is when she was surprised, considering that the clerk scanned the ticket and a message saying to file a claim for the prize with the Lottery appeared.

Then, the clerk told the woman: “You must have won big; you have to go to the Lottery office!” The fortunate woman collected her ticket and went home to scratch it off. After uncovering 10 words, she realized that she had won the instant game’s top prize. “I started screaming! Winning feels good and came at the perfect time,” said the lucky winner. Last but not least, the anonymous player admitted that the Colossal Cashword instant game is her favorite game.

The $2 million prize marked the first top win from the Lottery’s popular instant game. Two more $2 million prizes each remain in play from Colossal Cashword. Upon launch, the game offered 23 prizes of $10,000 each, but now only 13 such prizes remain in play. Overall, players have a chance of winning a prize between $30 and $2,000,000 from the popular instant game. The odds of winning any prize from the $30 scratch-off game are 1 in 3.44.