Jessica Mathews / news@whmi.com


An Oakland County woman is looking forward to “doing whatever she wants” after winning $500,000 playing the Michigan Lottery’s The Most Wonderful Time of the Year instant game.

The lucky 72-year-old player, who chose to remain anonymous, bought her winning ticket at AMS Enterprise Inc., located at 1715 North Pontiac Trail in Walled Lake.

The player said “Winning is an awesome feeling because now I can do whatever I want”. She said “I love the holiday games, and I play them every year when they come out. I scratched my The Most Wonderful Time of the Year ticket when I got home and thought I’d only won $5 at first. After looking the ticket over a second time, I realized I’d actually won $500,000 and yelled: ‘Oh my gosh! I can’t believe this!’ You never think you’re going to win the big one and then one day, when you least expect it, it happens!”

The player recently visited Lottery headquarters to claim her big prize. With her winnings, she plans to take care of her family and then save the remainder.