A New Mexico man who thought he'd struck it rich on a lottery scratcher says he was told his win was a misprint.
John Wines bought a scratch-off lottery ticket from a Shell gas station in Roswell, NBC affiliate KOB reported.
Although the maximum payout for the ticket is $250,000, Wines discovered five winning numbers that totaled over $500,000.
But when Wines went to claim his prize, a gas station attendant told him he wouldn’t be collecting the money.
"I took it back in, and she told me that is not a winner," Wines told KOB. "They told me that it was a misprint, and they don't pay off for misprints."
Wines contacted the New Mexico Lottery, which according to KOB replied via email.
“We did find a flaw in that particular pack of tickets, and it’s been reported to our printer," the lottery reportedly said in its email. "Thanks for bringing this to our attention. I did complete a reconstruction of your ticket, and it was not a winner.”
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Wines, who recently retired, thinks he should receive the prize.
"I didn't misprint it,” Wines told KOB. “I bought the ticket in good faith, thinking if I won I was going to get my money. And they told me no. They absolutely, positively told me no."
The New Mexico Lottery has offered him $100 in lottery tickets in place of the winnings, KOB reported.
“If it was $50 or $75, I would not think a thing about it,” said Wines. “But this is $500,000. That's a half million."