Michigan Man + Wife Misread Lottery Ticket Before Realizing They’d Won $500K

Sometimes those instant scratch-off tickets from the Michigan Lottery can be hard to read - and a Michigan couple both misread their ticket before realizing they'd won a bundle.

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Inspired to Buy a Ticket by a Lottery TV Show

The Ottawa County man tells the Michigan Lottery that he was inspired to buy an instant ticket after watching an episode of 'My Lottery Dream Home.'

"We were watching the show, My Lottery Dream Home, and the winners on that episode won playing instant games, so we decided to start playing those," he said.

He went on to say that the Holiday Wishes ticket that he purchased was only the third instant ticket he'd ever bought and added that the cashier quipped, "Remember me when you win big."

Little did he know, he'd just purchased a $500,000 winning ticket. The lucky player purchased his ticket at the Marathon station in Spring Lake

Husband and Wife Both Misread the Winning Ticket

The man said that both he and his wife misread the ticket, thinking they'd won smaller prizes.

"We both have bad eyesight, so when my wife scratched it off, she thought we won $5. I looked it over and thought we won $500," he said. "My wife looked it over again, and that’s when she noticed it was really a $500,000 winner!"

The couple then called their son, who congratulated them on a "huge, life-changing event."

He tells the lottery that he and his wife plan to use their winnings to pay bills, donate to charity, and take a trip to Paris.