Winner rewarded by a retailer's lucky touch

By Kate Northrop

COMSTOCK PARK, Mich. — A Michigan man thought he'd purchase a Super Raffle lottery ticket after seeing a retailer's advertising for the "luckiest store in Michigan" and ended up winning a $1 million prize.

A Michigan resident thought he'd try his luck in the Michigan Lottery's Super Raffle, and what better place to play at than the luckiest spot in the state?

The winner, who requested to remain anonymous, had already heard news about tickets going on sale for the Michigan Lottery's Super Raffle and knew he had to go for one of the larger prizes.

"I'd heard about the Michigan Lottery's Super Raffle game and was pretty excited about it because of the odds," the 29-year-old told the Lottery. "I was telling everyone I know about the game and that they should buy a ticket because it had the best odds ever to win $6 million and many other prizes."

He was already near Party World on Alpine Avenue in Comstock Park, a liquor store that is hailed as one of the luckiest lottery spots in the state.

"I drove by Party World, which advertises as the luckiest store in Michigan, so I stopped in to buy a Super Raffle ticket," the player recalled. "The day of the drawing, I got a call from my wife and thought something bad had happened because she was in tears, until she said: 'You won $1 million on your Super Raffle ticket!' I didn't believe her, so she sent me a picture of the ticket, and I checked it myself."

His $50 ticket was one two winning tickets to be drawn for the $1 million second-tier prize on Nov. 19 and held the winning number 049686.

"When I saw I really did win $1 million, my heart started pounding!" he continued. "It was pretty surreal. I hope to turn this prize into generational wealth by investing the majority of the money."

Winners of the $100,000, $1 million, and $6 million prizes were required to call the Lottery to set up an appointment to validate their tickets and claim their winnings. When he made the trip to Lottery headquarters in Lansing, he chose to receive his prize as a one-time lump sum payment of about $693,000.

"This lucky player was interested in the Super Raffle game because of the odds, and the odds were in his favor after he won a $1 million prize," Lottery Commissioner Suzanna Shkreli said in a press release. "I also want to congratulate Party World, a Comstock Park retailer known as a lottery lucky spot, for selling the winning ticket and for continuing their 10+ year streak of selling huge lottery prizes."

Party World has a reputation for selling some rather notable lottery prizes in the past. In 2008, the retailer sold the winning ticket for a $57 million Mega Millions jackpot, and from there, their lucky streak continued. Since then, they've sold tickets for 14 prizes of $10,000 or more, including four prizes of at least $100,000.

"While it's impossible to predict when a retailer may sell a big winner, Party World has been an exceptionally lucky retailer for Michigan Lottery players," the Lottery said.

(Click to display full-size in gallery)This winning $1 million Michigan Lottery Super Raffle ticket was purchased by an anonymous player at the "luckiest store".

Thanks to Think for the tip.