Michigan man accidentally buys two lottery tickets, wins $1 million twice

He thought he had wasted his money when he accidently bought two tickets with the same numbers. But the error led to a massive win.

A Michigan man thought he had wasted his money when he accidentally bought two identical $2 lottery tickets.

But when it won the jackpot, he ended up winning $1 million – twice.

Samir Mazahem, 56, said he was saving lottery numbers online for the June 9 Mega Millions game when he realised he accidentally bought two of the same ticket.

“I went online and bought a ticket using numbers that are family birthdays. I forgot to save the numbers as favourites in the app, so I went back in and set them up as favourites so I could easily play them in the future,” Mr Mazahem said.

The man accidentally bought two identical $2 lottery tickets, but it turned out he hit the $1 million jackpot twice. Picture: Mark Ralston/AFP

“What I didn’t realise, is that meant I would be buying a second ticket with the same numbers. Once I figured out I had bought two tickets with identical numbers, I was a little bummed but didn’t think much about it.”

Any regret he had about the wasted $2 instantly went away when he recently logged in and realised he won on both tickets.

“I recently logged into the app to check on some tickets I had bought, and that is when I saw I had two $1 million prizes pending,” Mr Mazahem said. “Saying that I was stunned is an understatement. I couldn’t believe it was real. It took several days for the reality to set in that my mistake had paid off to the tune of $2 million!”

‘Once I figured out I had bought two tickets with identical numbers, I was a little bummed but didn’t think much about it,’ he said. Picture: Mario Tama/Getty Images/AFP

Mr Mazahem said he plans to buy a house with his winnings then save the rest for retirement.

“Generally, participation in Australian lottery games remains solid at the moment since COVID-19, with the volume of entries being purchased instore and online to date remaining broadly consistent with the levels seen before the outbreak for equivalent draws,” a spokesperson from The Lott told news.com.au.

“We have seen increased interest in our major jackpotting games as their division one prize pools climb, however this is in line with what we normally see for these games – the greater the jackpot amount, generally the higher level of participation.”

This article originally appeared on Fox News and is reproduced with permission