A lottery winner was in for the treat of his life when he discovered that he was much luckier than he originally thought.
When Waltham, Mass., school bus driver Edward Boudreau turned in his “$2,000,000 50X Cashword” ticket on Friday, he thought he was about to claim a $10,000 prize. According to the rules of the game, matching 10 corresponding words gets you 10 grand, which is nothing to sneeze at.
But that’s when lottery officials helpfully informed him just how much luckier he was. Turns out he matched 11 words, yielding him the $1 million prize, communications director Christian Teja confirmed to TIME.
He opted for a one-time payout, a total of $650,000 after withholdings raining down on him.
Ideally, he’ll have something to spare from his influx of funds for the essential customer service agent who tipped him off about that last word.
Let this fortunate man’s instant journey to wealth teach us all that if you want to win big in life, never settle for less than you’re worth. And look at situations closely, unless you’re one of those people who look at an extra $990,000 and say, “I could take or leave it.”
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