An Indiana woman won a $500,000 lottery by playing a Michigan instant game ticket over the holidays. Emily Hickox was gifted the lottery ticket through a white elephant gift exchange she participated in with her family. She told Michigan Lottery she wasn't even the initial recipient of the scratch-off ticket.

Emily Hickox originally received a flashlight as part of the gift exchange but traded it in for a Detroit Lions instant ticket her dad received.

“My cousin purchased the ticket for the white elephant gift exchange at our family Christmas party,” said 25,-year-old Emily Hickox. “My dad actually won the ticket in the gift exchange, and I won the gift he brought, a flashlight. He wanted his gift back, so we made an agreement after the game to trade gifts.

A white elephant gift swap with her dad led to an Indiana woman winning a big chunk of cash from the Michigan Lottery on Christmas.

A father’s loss was a daughter’s gain — a big one — following a white elephant gift exchange in Michigan. While the Indiana woman won a jackpot prize that left her “speechless,” the father came away with a household tool that is a little bit less life changing.

Emily won $500,000 from a Detroit Lions scratch-off lottery ticket she received during a white elephant gift exchange.

When a 25-year-old woman agreed to trade gifts with her dad during a Christmas white elephant game, she ended up winning $500,000.

A woman who ended up with a Michigan Lottery scratch-off ticket in her family's white elephant gift exchange scored a $500,000 prize.