A New Mexico man who saw his champagne wishes and caviar dreams dashed by lottery authorities who said his winning ticket was actually a misprint is now suing, claiming he’s owed the $500,000 prize that appeared on his scratch card.

The 65-year-old man bought a $20 scratch card and uncovered two $250,000 grand prizes on the ticket, but lottery officials said it was a misprint as the maximum prize per ticket is $250,000.

He’s now filed a lawsuit against the New Mexico Lottery for refusing to pay up, and is asking for $500,625, reports ABC6 News.

“We believe the statute is very clear, that the game is about matching numbers,” said the man’s lawyer. “He matched those numbers, they need to pay, or basically they are cheaters.”

The New Mexico lottery isn’t commenting while the lawsuit is pending, but back when the man first tried to collect on the ticket, a spokeswoman said there had been other defective tickets that had been discovered and removed.

“Absolutely, we feel for him. Printing presses, I don’t care if it is the New York Times’ printing press, a press that prints bumper stickers or whatever else, they are mechanical and parts will become disabled, bent, out of alignment, jammed or otherwise disabled,” she said at the time. “If it had been a winning ticket, we would have gladly paid.”

Man Sues, Lottery Says Winning $500,000 Ticket Is Misprint [ABC 6]

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