Illinois man wins $25,000 a year for life from lottery ticket after clerk’s lucky mistake

Thanks to an apparently honest mistake by a gas station clerk, a 60-year-old Illinois man is nearly $400,000 richer.

Michigan Lottery officials said Michael Sopejstal won $25,000 a year for life when a Lucky for Life lottery ticket he bought matched the five white balls drawn on Sept. 17: 11-15-17-24 -48.

According to a news release, Sopejstal traveled to the Great Lakes state from his hometown and bought the winning ticket at a GoLo gas station in New Buffalo, a town on Lake Michigan about 70 miles from Chicago.

Every few weeks, Sopejstal said, he visits Michigan “to eat at his favorite restaurant.”

“I always get a Lucky for Life ticket for 10 or 20 drawings while I’m here,” Sopejstal said during a recent trip to Michigan Lottery headquarters.

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Instead, a lump sum payment

The lucky winner said he asked the merchant for a ticket for 10 draws, but the clerk “mistakenly printed” a ticket with 10 lines for one draw.

“I told him I still wanted him,” Sopejstal recalled. “I checked my ticket one morning and saw that I had earned $25,000 a year for life. I immediately started thinking about all the things I could do with the money… It was an amazing feeling!”

The lucky lottery winner chose to receive his winnings as a one-time lump sum of $390,000 rather than $25,000 a year for life payments, according to the release.

Sopejstal said he plans to use the money to travel and invest the rest in savings.

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When is the next Lucky for Life drawing?

Lucky for Life players can win prizes ranging from $3 to a lifetime of cash, according to the state lottery’s website.

Tickets cost $2 each, and to win the game’s top prize — $1,000 a day for life — players must match all five winning numbers plus a “Lucky Ball” number. Those who match all five winning numbers but not the “Lucky Ball” win $25,000 a year for life.

The state’s next Lucky for Life drawing is Monday night.

Natalie Neysa Alund is a senior reporter for USA TODAY. Contact her at [email protected] and follow her on X @nataliealund.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Lucky for Life lottery win: Man wins $390,000 after clerk’s mistake