80-Year-Old Lake County Man Wins $300K Playing Top Secret Cashword

A Michigan man changed his lottery playing habits and quickly won a large sum of money playing scratch cards, lottery officials said.

According to a July 1 Michigan Lottery Connect press release, an 80-year-old Lake County man won $300,000 playing the Top Secret Cashword scratch-off game just days after switching from numbers games to instant games.

“I used to only play lottery games,” the winner, who chose to remain anonymous, told lottery officials. “I bought this ticket about a week and a half after I switched to instant games.”

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According to lottery officials, the player said he couldn’t believe it when he guessed the tenth word for the top prize.

“It’s impossible,” the winner said in his mind.

He told lottery employees that after triple-checking the ticket, he gave it to his daughter to confirm his win.

“Dad, you won the grand prize!” she said.

The winner, still unable to believe he had won, said he had brought his ticket to have it scanned.

“That’s when it started to sink in that I had actually won,” he said. “Winning $300,000 in the lottery is the best feeling in the world!”

Lottery officials said the man purchased the ticket at the Wolf Lake Store in Baldwin.

Baldwin is located approximately 85 miles north of Grand Rapids.