Store clerk’s blunder turns into $300,000 windfall for lucky 60-year-old lottery winner

A store clerk’s gaffe at the lottery counter proved to be a lucky break for a 60-year-old Illinois man.

Michael Sopejstal says he was making his regular visit to his favorite eatery across the Michigan border when he stopped to take his chances on the Wolverine State drawing, lottery officials said in a release this week.

Sopejstal, who makes the 50-mile trip every few weeks, said he normally plays 10 or 20 draws in the Michigan Lucky For Life Lottery when he’s in New Buffalo.

“I asked the retailer for a ticket for 10 draws, but he accidentally printed a ticket with 10 lines for each draw,” he said. “But I told him I still wanted it.”

Good move.

“I checked my ticket one morning and saw that I had won $25,000 a year for life,” Sopejstal said. “I immediately started thinking about all the things I could do with the money and whether I wanted to take a lump sum or annuity option. It was an amazing feeling.”

He took some time to mull it over, and turned up at lottery headquarters “recently,” the agency said, to pick up his winnings in the Sept. 17 drawing.

The lucky winner opted for a lump sum payout and walked away with a hefty $309,000.

It’s unclear if the unattentive store clerk at the GoLo gas station got a tip for his blunder.

The Lucky For Life game awards players who match five winning numbers plus the Lucky Ball number a top prize of $1,000 a day for life, the lottery said.

Players who only match the five winning numbers win the $25,000 a week for life prize, as Sopejstal did.