SARASOTA, FL — A 75-year-old Florida newlywed is a big winner in the state’s lottery and in life.

Stephen Lyons, who was recently married, claimed his $1 million top prize in the $5 Monopoly Jackpot Scratch-Off game at lottery headquarters in Tallahassee on Monday, according to lottery officials. But that was just the latest installment of his good fortune.

“I got married in February,” Lyons told Patch on Tuesday moments after lottery officials announced his big win. “We’re planning on a cruise.”

Lyons, who is retired, worked for an insurance company for 42 years before starting his own business as a firearms instructor.

He started playing the lottery about five years ago for fun.

“I found a $20 bill on the ground about five years ago and I bought some lottery tickets with it,” he said. “I won. I forget how much.”

Since then, he began to play consistently and started buying entire books of 60 tickets at a time.

“I bought a book of tickets last Saturday — a book of $5 Monopoly scratch-off tickets — on Saturday,” he said. “When I scratched off Sunday, one of the tickets was a $1 million ticket.”

Over the years he estimates that he had won a total of about $7,000 or $8,000 but never anything like this.

“I got to tell you when I looked at the odds of my winning it were three-million, three-hundred-thousand-to-one,” he shared. Lottery officials say the odds of winning any prize in the Monopoly game is only one in 3.98.

Lyons purchased his winning ticket at Palmer Market, which will receive a $2,000 bonus for selling the winning ticket, according to lottery officials. The market is located at 5300 Clark Road in Sarasota.

“I had to look at it real hard. Then I took a picture of the ticket. It was Sunday so I couldn’t call the lottery office,” he recalled. “I just sat with it at home on Sunday.”

He texted the photo of the winning ticket to his new bride, who was at work as an executive chef.

“She texted back saying ‘are you kidding?'”

He called the lottery office on Monday and verified that the prize was available. He chose to receive his winnings as a one-time, lump-sum payment of $715,000.

“I went out and I bought another book this morning,” he said. “For me, it’s fun. It’s entertainment. I never really expected to win, but rather than go to a movie or eat out a lot, or go on trips, I just scratch off the tickets and it’s fun. Now it’s more fun.”

The Monopoly game launched in July 2018 and features more than $32 million in cash prizes. Scratch-offs generate more than $871 million for the Educational Enhancement Trust Fund and account for about 69 percent of Florida ticket sales.

“I won the cancer lottery and then I won the scratch-off lottery,” Lyons said.

If you consider his recent marriage, that’s like winning three big prizes, he added.

For more information on the lottery visit www.flalottery.com.