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Life

08th Dec 2015

A Homeless Man Has Won $500,000 on a Scratch Card

The odds of winning were 840,000 to 1

Cassie Delaney

Michael Engfors, 61, has been homeless for six years following the loss of his business and a divorce.

His luck has just changed as, according to NBC News, he’s just pocketed half a mill off a scratch card.

Jeremy Kowalis works at the Aspen Homeless Shelter in Colorado. He told NBC: “It couldn’t happen to a better type of person.

“Michael has seen a bottom that has pushed him right to the edge… But Michael never gave up. He knew that if he kept pushing on, eventually his luck would change.”

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Michael bought the ticket last Friday. According to The Aspen Times, a clerk at the local Aspen Shell station confirmed that a man had won $500,000.

The clerk, Gabby Garcia, explained that Michael often stayed outside playing scratch cards and winning a few dollars, however on Friday he came running into the station shouting: “I won.”

“I asked him what he was going to do, and he said he wanted to get some skis and he really wanted to connect with his daughter who he hadn’t seen in over 20 years,” Kowalis said.

“He’s interested in trying to find out how to go about reaching her and re-connecting with her now that he’s got a little bit more means to do so”.

The odds of winning the scratch card game were 840,000 to 1.