A Michigan woman won a $500,000 lottery prize after taking a suggestion about what ticket to buy from a store clerk.
Amanda Hughes, 42, of Gwinn, which is located in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, told Michigan Lottery officials that she tried to buy a $20 Wild Time game ticket, but there weren’t any left.
“I don’t play scratch off tickets a lot, but I do buy one every once in a while,” Hughes said. “When I was at the store, I asked for the $20 Wild Time game, but they had sold out of it, so the clerk suggested 50X Wild Time.”
When she scratched the ticket, she couldn’t believe it when she saw a $500,000 prize.
“When I scratched the ticket off and saw the prize of $500,000, I wasn’t sure if it was real at first,” the player said. “I thought I must not have read the instructions correctly, so I reread them and then went back into the store to scan the ticket and have the clerk look at it. It was surreal when I realized I really had just won $500,000!”
Hughes bought her winning 50X Wild Time ticket at Kwik Trip at 301 M-553 in Marquette.
She plans to buy a house with her prize money and then save the rest for her kids.
“I still can’t believe this is real! This money is going to be life-changing for my family,” Hughes said.
Michigan Lottery officials said each 50 Wild Time ticket gives players the chance to win prizes from $10 up to $500,000.
Since the game launched in February 2024, players have won more than $67 million.