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.
The winning lottery ticket.Michigan Lottery Connect
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.
Natalie Kainz
Natalie Kainz is a news associate for NBC News.
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