Gas station employee's mistake leads to man winning $25,000 a year for life in Michigan lottery

Michael Sopejstal, who lives in Illinois, said he takes a drive through Indiana over to Michigan every few weeks to eat at his favorite restaurant. He also makes sure to buy a Lucky for Life ticket for 10 or 20 draws, according to the Michigan Lottery.

On September 17, the retailer at a GoLo gas station made a mistake, accidentally printing a ticket with 10 lines for a single draw, Sopejstal told the Lottery. Sopejstal told the retailer he still wanted it.

“I checked my ticket one morning and saw that I had won $25,000 a year for life,” he told Lottery officials. “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!”

The 60-year-old visited Lottery headquarters recently to claim his prize, according to the Lottery. He chose the one-time lump sum payment of $390,000, instead of $25,000 a year for 20 years or life, whichever is greater, the Lottery said.

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Sopejstal told the Lottery he plans to use his prize money to travel and save the rest.

Lucky for Life is played in about two dozen states as well as in Washington, D.C. Prizes range from $3 to a top prize of $1,000 a day for life.

The overall odds of winning for each game are posted on the game’s website. Sopejstal’s odds of winning five white balls on September 17 were 1 in more than 1.8 million.

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