Construction detour leads lucky Michigan woman to $1m prize

A detour due to construction works led one incredibly lucky lottery player to a life-changing prize. That’s the story of one St. Clair County woman who scored one of the top prizes from the Michigan Lottery’s King Cashword instant game.

The fortunate 70-year-old woman, who chose to remain anonymous, purchased her $20 King Cashword ticket at Speedy Q Markets on 2020 Water Street in Port Huron. Interestingly, this ticket brought her a life-changing $1m top prize. The lucky player admitted that she often buys King Cashword tickets and almost every day goes to the same store down the road. However, on the day she purchased the top prize scratch-off ticket, it was too hot for a walk so she decided to drive down the street. Surprisingly, St. Clair County woman couldn’t reach the store she usually buys tickets from due to road works. There was a lot of construction going on near the store that made it hard to get to, so I ended up going to a different store in the area that I’d never been to, the woman said in an interview for the Michigan Lottery. The 70-year-old woman decided to scratch off her King Cashword ticket later on the same night. Seeing the $1m top prize win, the woman was in disbelief and immediately called her son, who told her to sit down, fearing she might have a heart attack. I had to go to the store to scan my ticket because I needed to see proof that this was real. Winning is amazing and life changing, the lucky player said. Instead of annuity payments for the full sum, the St. Clair County woman chose to receive a one-time lump sum of $693,000. Asked about her plans for the newfound fortune, the woman responded she will buy a new car and a house.

The Michigan Lottery rolled out the King Cashword ticket last June. Each ticket costs $20 and offers players a chance to win a prize between $20 and $1m. After the most recent top prize win, now, only one $1m prize remains in play. A tier-two prize from the popular game awards $5,000 and out of 30 initially, now, a dozen are up for grabs. On the other hand, a tier-three prize from the $20 scratch-off ticket wards $1,000 and there are 232 such prizes remaining. Within the lower prize tiers, Michigan lottery players can win a range of prizes between $20 and $500. The overall odds of winning any prize from the ticket are 1 in 3.28.