A Genesee County woman says other players' complaints inspired her to buy an instant ticket that netted her a half-million dollars.

The woman was standing in line at the Marathon gas station on Clio Road in Mt. Morris when she overheard the customer in line ahead of her grumbling about not winning anything.

“I was in line at the gas station and heard the person ahead of me complain that they bought a few $500 Fever tickets and didn’t win anything,” the 65-year-old player tells the Michigan Lottery. “When I got to the counter, I asked the clerk to give me the next ticket on the roll."

Her strategy paid off, big time.

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“I scratched the barcode, scanned it, and got a ‘cannot process’ message," she said. "I scratched the rest of the ticket, thinking maybe I won a little bit of money, so I couldn’t believe it when I saw I’d won $500,000. I knew what I was seeing but I didn’t want to get too excited until I called the Lottery and confirmed.”

The woman, who wishes to stay anonymous, says she plans to use the money to retire and maybe do a little investing.

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