Michigan man wins $500K after buying instant game ticket with money from can returns

A Michigan man's weekly routine of returning cans had paid off after he used the money to buy an instant game ticket that earned him $500,000.

According to Michigan Lottery, the 39-year-old man from Livingston County purchased the new Stampede Payout instant game at a CVS store on Pontiac Trail in South Lyon.

"I have a ritual of returning cans every Sunday morning and then using the money to buy lottery tickets," the man said in a statement. "After I bought my tickets, I put them in my glove box and ran errands the rest of the day.

"Later that night, after dinner, I sat down and scratched the tickets. When I saw I'd won $500,000, I started yelling and jumping up and down! I tried to scan the ticket on the app after, but my hands were shaking so bad I couldn't get it to scan until later."

The man says winning half a million dollars gave him "financial freedom." 

Officials say the man plans to pay off his house, take a vacation and take friends out to dinner.

Michigan Lottery says more than $4 million has been awarded to Stampede Payout players since the game launched in August.