A man from Illinois won $390,000 after a gas station employee's mistake, according to the Michigan Lottery.
Michael Sopejstal, 60, won the Lucky For Life lottery after he purchased the winning ticket Sep. 17 at a GoLo gas station in New Buffalo, Michigan.
"I asked the retailer for a ticket for 10 draws, but he accidentally printed a ticket with 10 lines for one draw, but I told him I still wanted it," Sopejstal said in a news release from the Michigan Lottery.
Sopejstal said he buys a Lucky for Life ticket for 10 or 20 draws every few weeks, when he visits Michigan to eat at his favorite restaurant.
To win the $25,000 a year prize, Sopejstal matched the five winning numbers ranging from 1 to 48. In his case, they were 11, 15, 17, 24, and 48. The top prize, which requires players to match an extra Lucky Ball in addition to the first five, is $1,000 a day for life.
"I immediately started thinking about all the things I could do with the money and whether I wanted to take the lump sum or annuity option. It was an amazing feeling!" Sopejstal said.
Sopejstal ultimately decided to receive his winnings as a one-time lump sum payment of $390,000. He told the Michigan Lottery that he plans to use his winnings to travel, then save the remainder.
He also could have chosen to receive annual payments of $25,000 a year for 20 years or for life, whichever is greater.
Lucky For Life tickets cost $2 per play and drawings take place at 10:38 p.m. every day.
On Thanksgiving last week, a player in Ohio won the same Lucky For Life prize as Sopejstal.
