Michigan $1M Winning Lottery Ticket Saved from Trash

A Michigan woman recently went to toss two scratch-off into the garbage. Thankfully, she checked the numbers one last time before she did. That turned out to be a wise and profitable decision.

The door to the Michigan Lottery office, pictured above. A woman almost tossed out a winning lottery ticket. Instead, she checked it one last time and went to the lottery office to claim her prize. (Image: CNN)

The 30-year-old Clinton County resident scooped the tickets out of a bag filled with trash and checked the numbers one last time. To her surprise, one of the tickets had a $1 million prize.

When I saw I’d won $1 million, my heart started racing and I thought I was going to faint, she recalled in a statement released on Monday by the . “I am so glad I decided to look the ticket over again before throwing it away.

The unnamed woman purchased the scratch-off tickets the night before for $10 each at Hansen’s Quik Stop in Ovid, Mich. She said she decided to buy two of the Sizzling Hot 7’s tickets because it’s a newer game.

The woman opted to take her winnings as a of about $693K rather than taking the $1M in 30 payments. She plans to use her winnings to buy a house and invest money for the future.

Plays Instant Games

The lottery winner said she regularly plays new instant lottery games when they come out each month. The Sizzling Hot 7 s game began in January. Since its launch, Sizzling Hot 7 s has given out more than $15 million. Prizes range from $10 up to $1 million.

On the ticket s main playing area, gamblers can look to match any of their numbers to any of the hot numbers for a chance to win the prize shown for that number. If the matching “your number” area is red, the player wins double that prize amount. If the ticket shows a red “Flaming 7” symbol, the player will win $50.

The overall odds to win are 1 in 3.77.

Check Those Tickets

The Michigan example isn t the first time a winning lottery ticket nearly wound up in the garbage.

In 2021, a customer glanced at a lottery ticket too quickly at a convenience store. She thought it was a losing ticket and threw it away.

The son of the store s owners checked the ticket one last time. It, too, was a $1M winner. He took it to the customer, and she won the jackpot.