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TV show inspires $500,000 lottery win

Congratulations to a Michigan instant winner!

Winning Michigan Lottery Holiday Wishes ticket.
Winning Michigan Lottery Holiday Wishes ticket. Photograph credit to the Michigan Lottery.
Corinna Underwood

A lucky lottery player from Ottawa County, Michigan, was inspired to play instant-win games after watching an episode of My Lottery Dream Home. Fortunately for the 73-year-old, his Holiday Wishes scratch-off game was an instant winner, and his prize was $500,000.

The player, who chose to remain anonymous, purchased the ticket from the Marathon gas station, located at 17035 Lloyds Bayou in Spring Lake. In an interview with the Michigan Lottery, he said:

My wife and I have played draw games since the lottery began. We were watching the show My Lottery Dream Home, and the winners on that episode won playing instant games, so we decided to start playing those. This Holiday Wishes ticket was the third scratch-off ticket we'd ever bought, and when we purchased it, the cashier joked: “Remember me when you win big!”

The winner joked that he and his wife both have poor eyesight, so when they had scratched off their ticket, his wife thought that they'd won $5. When he took a look, he thought they had won $500. But their surprise just kept mounting because after looking at it a second time, the player realized they'd bagged a prize of $500,000. They called their son straight away to share their wonderful news.

“Winning truly is going to be life-changing for us,” the husband said. The couple plans to use their money to pay off some bills, take a trip to Paris, and make some donations to charity.

How to play the Holiday Wishes instant-win game

This is a $10 instant-win game with a top prize of $500,000. To play, scratch off the five stacks of dollar bills symbols to reveal the winning holiday numbers. Then, remove the 16 Christmas boots symbols to reveal your numbers. If any of your numbers match the winning numbers, you win the prize amount shown by that number. If you reveal a gift symbol, you instantly win the prize amount shown. Next, scratch off the four bonus areas. If you reveal a prize amount, you win that prize instantly. Remove the win all number area. If any of your numbers match the number revealed, you win the prize shown. The prize range for this game is $10, $20, $30, $50, $100, $200, $500, $2,000, and $500,000. To date, one $500,000 prize remains.

My Lottery Dream Home

My Lottery Dream Home was a TV show aired by HGTV. Kit was launched on March 7, 2015. The show features home buyers who won the lottery or unexpectedly inherited a large amount of money. The host, David Bromstad, helped the newly rich find luxury homes. The show is on its 14th season, which began airing in January 2024. You can watch the show each Friday on HGTV at 9 p.m.

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