Winner runs out crying after friend suggests they stop for tickets

By Kate Northrop

FLINT, Mich. — An unassuming pitstop for lottery tickets became an occasion worthy of shed tears when a Michigan woman reinvested her lottery winnings and won $1 million.

All it took for one Michigan woman to leave a store in tears was a quick suggestion and snap decision that made her the winner of a $1 million prize.

The anonymous Genesee County resident was already out and about celebrating a special occasion the day of the win. While observing Cinco de Mayo with her friend, her friend proposed an idea that would only add to the fun.

"I play lottery games a lot, but I actually wasn't planning on stopping to buy tickets that day," the 39-year-old player told the Michigan Lottery. "I went out with a friend for Cinco de Mayo, and after she suggested we stop to buy tickets, so we did."

The pair paid a visit to Liquor Wheel on Clio Road in Flint, where she decided to buy a few $5 "Lucky Stars" scratch-off tickets from the stack.

"I bought a few tickets and won $30, so I used my winnings to buy two more," she continued. "I scratched them in the store and ran out to my car crying when I saw I'd won $1 million."

Ticket in-hand, she made a trip to Lottery headquarters in Lansing to claim her prize, receiving a lump sum payment of about $693,000 rather than annuity payments for the full amount, the Lottery said in a press release.

She plans on using her winnings to buy a new house and car for her parents and will save the rest.

"It was unreal!" the winner added. "I'm still trying to process it."

The lucky player was the first winner to scoop one of the three available top prizes of $1 million in the $5 "Lucky Stars" game, which launched earlier this month. That leaves two more top prizes in the game, as well as nine out of ten second-tier prizes of $2,500 and 58 out of 61 third-tier prizes of $500.

The overall odds of winning any prize in the game are 1 in 3.99.

(Click to display full-size in gallery)Tears were flowing after this ticket was scratched by a lucky Michigan resident.