Husband and wife win big Michigan lottery prize — and have ‘a lot of sleepless nights’

A husband who bought a couple Michigan lottery tickets said he had a feeling he was going to win big.

“I bought two tickets and lost on the first one,” the 44-year-old Cheboygan County man told Michigan Lottery officials. “When I started scratching the second ticket, the last thing I thought would happen was winning $1 million. When I revealed the winning symbol, I was more surprised than I have been in my entire life.”

He had won $1 million playing the Luck instant scratch game, according to a July 17 news release.

“I shared the news with my wife right away, and we’ve had a lot of sleepless night(s) since,” he said when claiming his winnings. “When I do sleep, all I can do is dream of what I will do with the money!”

The man chose to receive his winnings as a one-time lump payment of about $693,000, rather than 30 annual payments that add to the full amount, according to the release. He plans to pay bills and save.

The winning $10 ticket was sold by Indian River E-Z Mart in Cheboygan, about 100 miles northeast of Traverse City.

This story was originally published July 17, 2023 at 10:13 AM with the headline "Husband and wife win big Michigan lottery prize — and have ‘a lot of sleepless nights’."