New Mexico Man Matched Winning Lottery Numbers but Didn't Win

— -- A minuscule speck stands between John Wines and the $500,625 he believes he has won.

Wines, 65, a retired heating and air conditioning technician living in Roswell, New Mexico, thought he hit the jackpot on the “Ruby 7s” scratch-off ticket he bought in December.

Wines says he had five numbers on his card that matched the winning numbers, with the prizes of each totaling more than $500,000.

Sam Bregman, Wines’ lawyer, said, "unfortunately, the New Mexico lottery has decided they're not paying it because they're claiming it's a misprint."

Bregman says officials told Wines that speck is just one of the misprints on the ticket.

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

But instead of trying his luck again at the lottery, Wines is now hoping for a payout in court, suing the New Mexico Lottery for half a million dollars. Lottery officials declined to comment, citing pending litigation.

Bregman says it’s important to ensure such an incident doesn’t happen to anyone else.

“You get so high when you’re thinking you’re winning that kind of money, and then, of course, he gets so low, once you find out the lottery won’t make good on their terms,” Bregman said.