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2 longtime friends win $1M Michigan lottery jackpot

Posted at 8:02 AM, Jul 03, 2019
and last updated 2019-07-03 10:14:40-04

(WXYZ) — Two longtime friends are celebrating after winning $1 million playing the Michigan Lottery's Millionaire Maker instant game.

Robert Sopsich, 30, of Hartland, and Dillan Dybilas, 20, of Ubly, won the big prize after buying a Millionaire Maker ticket at the Hilltop Party Store in Hartland.

“We’d each been buying tickets but hadn’t won much, so we decided to put our money together and split the winnings,” said Sopsich. “We stopped and bought a couple tickets last week and when we got back in the truck, started scratching them off.”

“I looked over at Robert and his mouth was hanging wide open,” said Dybilas. “I asked him how much we’d won and when he said ‘$1 million,’ I had to see the ticket for myself.”

“When I saw the ‘1MIL’ symbol it was like lightning going through my body,” said Sopsich. “We went to my house right away to tell my wife, and all we could do was celebrate because we knew winning meant we’d be debt free.”

They chose to receive their prize as a one-time lump sum payment of about $634,000.