A Clerk’s Mistake Lands an Illinois Man $25,000 a Week for Life

I don't play the lottery (if I do, it's a couple scratch-off tickets), but it's stories like this that motivate me to do so.

One clerk's mistake was an Illinois man's gain. That man is Michael Sopejstal, who lives in Illinois, but drives through Indiana all the way up to Michigan on a semi-regular basis in order to eat at one of his favorite restaurants (that's a story in itself). Every time he does this, he purchases a Lucky for Life lottery ticket for 10 or 20 draws.

Back in September, a retailer at a Michigan gas station made a mistake. They printed a ticket with 10 chances on 10 different line as opposed to 10 chances on a single line (I think I got that right), per ABC 7 Chicago. Sopejstal stated he still wanted the lottery ticket despite the error:

I checked my ticket one morning and saw that I had won $25,000 a year for life. I immediately started thinking about all the things I could do with the money and whether I wanted to take the lump sum or annuity option. It was an amazing feeling! - Michael Sopejstal, per ABC 7 Chicago

Sopejstal, who is 60-years-old, decided to take the lump sum payment of $390,000 as opposed to the $25k/week for life option. Per Michigan Lottery, the odds of winning the grand prize on the Lucky for Life lottery that day were 1 in over 1.8 million. Smaller prizes for the same game range from $3 to $1,000 a day for life.

The big question now: does Sopejstal give some of the money to the clerk, whose mistake landed him the riches? I'd like to think I'd throw that individual a couple grand as a thank you.

Sopejstal plans to use some of the money for travel and save the rest. Read more about the lucky turn of events for this Illinois resident on ABC 7 Chicago's website.