Michigan: South Carolina man scores $2m win from instant game

A fortunate man from South Carolina who recently visited Michigan for work made a life-changing decision after deciding to buy a lottery ticket instead of going to a casino.

The incredibly lucky man scored a $2m win after purchasing a ticket for one of Michigan Lottery's instant games.

The Lottery released a statement on Thursday, confirming that the name of the fortunate winner is Michael Buckner, a 58-year-old man from South Carolina.

Speaking to Lottery officials, the winner confirmed that he worked in Escanaba, but he is in fact from South Carolina.

Recently, the man was contemplating whether to visit a casino or buy a lottery ticket.

Settling on the latter option, Buckner purchased a $2,000,000 Mega Multiplier instant game ticket from Gladstone Mobil at 2009 Lake Shore Drive in Gladstone.

To the surprise and shock of the 58-year-old man, he won $2m from the Lottery's popular game.

Earlier this week, Buckner visited the Lottery headquarters to claim his unexpected windfall.

When asked what his plans for the hefty lottery win are, the man said he would share the windfall with his family, pay bills and keep the rest.

Buckner was presented with two options: to collect the full $2m via annuity payments or take a lump cash sum of approximately $1.3m.

As with most lottery winners, the 58-year-old man selected the latter option.

The fortunate player didn't believe he won $2m at first

Suzanna Shkreli, the Michigan Lottery's commissioner, shared her excitement on the topic and revealed: "Michael made a winning decision when he spent $20 to buy a $2,000,000 Mega Multiplier instant game ticket."

She spoke about the popularity of instant games among players across Michigan, adding that those games helped the Lottery contribute more than $1bn to the state's School Aid Fund for the 2024 fiscal year.

The incredibly fortunate winner spoke about the day he won the big prize: "I was trying to decide between going to the casino or buying instant tickets and ended up deciding to buy instant tickets."

"When I scratched off the $2,000,000 Mega Multiplier game and saw I won $2 million, I didn’t think it was real," he recalled.

The Lottery's $2,000,000 Mega Multiplier instant game costs $20 per play.

At the start, the game offered three prizes of $2m each but after the recent win, only two remain in play.

Players who purchase a ticket for the $2,000,000 Mega Multiplier instant game have a chance of winning a prize between $20 and $2m.

The game offers overall odds of winning a prize of 1 in 3.47.

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