Married pair gift themselves "Diamonds & Gold" on special day

By Kate Northrop

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. — A married Michigan couple gifted themselves "the best surprise" on their wedding anniversary when they won a $2 million lottery prize from one of their favorite tickets.

It was "Diamonds & Gold" for one Michigan couple, who celebrated an unforgettable wedding anniversary with a $2 million win in the lottery.

An Oakland County woman, who chose to remain anonymous, visited the Opdyke Featherstone Mobil on North Opdyke Road in Auburn Hills. There, the lottery fan spotted a scratch-off ticket that she and her husband, also a lottery enthusiast, particularly like playing.

"My husband and I like playing different scratch-off tickets, especially the 'Diamonds & Gold game,'" the 44-year-old woman told the Michigan Lottery.

"Diamonds & Gold" is a glittering $20 scratch-off ticket that launched in March and offers three top prizes of $2 million.

"We scratched this ticket off together on our wedding anniversary, and my husband noticed the $2 million prize first," she continued. He thought something wasn't right, so we took it to the store to scan it. A message came up to file a claim at the Lottery office, so we asked a friend to scan it on her Lottery app. I started shaking and was in total shock when $2 million came up on the screen."

The lucky woman visited Lottery headquarters in Lansing to claim the prize, which she chose to receive as a one-time lump sum payment of about $1.3 million, according to the Lottery.

"It was so exciting and the best surprise on our anniversary!" she exclaimed.

With the winnings, she told Lottery officials, she plans on buying a house, investing, and putting some money aside for her children's college funds.

"Congratulations to the lucky player and her husband who had a day they will never forget after winning $2 million on their wedding anniversary!" Lottery Commissioner Suzanna Shkreli said in a press release. "It is great to hear that the prize will also have a positive impact on their children by helping fund their future education."

Following the prize claim, there is currently one $2 million top prize left in the $20 "Diamonds & Gold" scratch-off game out of the three originally available. There are also 20 out of 40 second-tier prizes of $5,000 and 113 out of 223 third-tier prizes of $2,000 remaining.

Players have won over $54 million playing "Diamonds & Gold," the Lottery said, and more than $49 million in prizes remain.

The overall odds of winning any prize in the game are 1 in 3.64.

(Click to display full-size in gallery)The winning Michigan Lottery scratch-off ticket, worth $2 million.