Man couldn’t believe big Powerball win after work in Michigan. ‘This can’t be right!’

Mark Brooks was on his way home from work when he stopped at a store to check his most recent Powerball tickets.

“I scanned my Powerball ticket and got a message to file a claim, so I asked the clerk to check it,” he told Michigan Lottery officials. “The clerk got the same message, so I took the ticket back and decided to check the numbers when I got home.”

The 60-year-old man from Otsego did exactly that, and he could not believe what he was seeing, according to an Oct. 19 news release.

“When I pulled up the winning numbers online and started looking my ticket over, my first thought was: ‘These numbers are looking really familiar,’” he said in the release. “When I realized I’d won $1 million, I was amazed. All I could think was: ‘This can’t be right!’”

Every Friday, Brooks said he buys two Powerball tickets.

The winning ticket — with his numbers matching the five white balls drawn in the Sept. 24 drawing — was one of two tickets he bought at Otsego Party Store, officials said. His winning numbers were 03-09-21-24-29.

After taxes, Brooks got a check for about $717,500, officials said.

He plans to pay off bills and save the rest for retirement, according to the release.

Otsego is in Allegan County, about 40 miles south of Grand Rapids.

This story was originally published October 19, 2022 at 1:58 PM with the headline "Man couldn’t believe big Powerball win after work in Michigan. ‘This can’t be right!’."