A Kalamazoo County man said winning $1 million playing the Michigan Lottery’s 50X instant game is “freeing, life-changing, and still setting in.”

“I play what I like to call ‘scratch-off roulette’ where I buy a bunch of different scratch-off tickets and then scratch the barcodes and scan them to see if I won,” said the lucky 59-year-old player, who chose to remain anonymous. “When I scanned this 50X ticket, I got a message to the Lottery, so I scratched off the play area.

“When I saw I matched number 1, I thought: ‘A $1 million prize would be nice!’ Then I scratched off the prize amount and was in shock when I saw I’d actually won $1 million! Winning is freeing, life-changing, and still setting in.”

“This lucky player cashed in on our 50X instant game which is part of the Multiplier family of instant games. Instant game families are popular among our players and help drive sales and increase our contribution to the School Aid Fund,” said Lottery Commissioner Suzanna Shkreli. “Congratulations to the player on his big win and to his wife on an early retirement!”

The player bought his winning ticket at Ziggy’s, located at 5384 North Riverview Drive in Kalamazoo. He recently visited Lottery headquarters to claim the big prize. He chose to receive his prize as a one-time lump sum payment of about $694,000, rather than annuity payments for the full amount. He plans to save his winnings so that his wife can retire early.

Players have won more than $16 million playing 50X, which launched in February. Each $10 ticket offers players a chance to win prizes ranging from $10 up to $1 million. More than $45 million in prizes remain, including two $1 million top prizes, 17 $10,000 prizes, and 154 $2,000 prizes.

In 2024, Lottery players won nearly $1.8 billion playing instant games.

Lottery instant games may be purchased at retailers across the state.