Jessica Mathews / news@whmi.com


A Livingston County man turned a few dollars from returning cans into a $500,000 win playing the Michigan Lottery’s new Stampede Payout instant game.

The lucky 39-year-old player chose to remain anonymous.

The player said “I have a ritual of returning cans every Sunday morning and then using the money to buy lottery tickets. After I bought my tickets, I put them in my glove box and ran errands the rest of the day. Later that night after dinner, I sat down and scratched the tickets. When I saw I’d won $500,000, I started yelling and jumping up and down! I tried to scan the ticket on the app after, but my hands were shaking so bad I couldn’t get it to scan until later. Winning $500,000 is an amazing feeling and means I now have financial freedom.”

The lucky player bought his winning ticket at the CVS, located at 22421 Pontiac Trail in South Lyon. He recently visited Lottery headquarters to claim the big prize.

With his winnings, the player plans to pay off his house, take a vacation, and take his friends out to dinner.

In 2025, Lottery players won more than $1.7 billion playing instant games.