Virginia resident Nicholas Foxx's impromptu stop for an energy drink turned into a life-changing moment. While visiting family in Altavista, Mr Foxx popped into the A1 Mini Mart on Main Street to grab a quick pick-me-up. On a whim, he decided to purchase some scratch-off lottery tickets. Little did he know, one of those tickets would prove to be a $1 million top prize winner in the 20X the Money game. However, he chose the cash option of $625,000 rather than the option of taking the full $1 million prize over 30 years.
''I thought I was reading it wrong. You don't know anyone who's hit the Lottery for that amount of money,'' he told lottery officials, reported WFXR.
As a result of Mr Foxx's win, the A1 Mini Mart, where he purchased the ticket, will receive a $10,000 bonus from the Virginia Lottery. When asked about his plans for the windfall, he chose to keep his intentions private.
According to WFXR-TV, a Fox News affiliate, his win marks the fourth top prize awarded in the '20X the Money' game, indicating two remaining $1 million prizes yet to be claimed. The game features prizes ranging from $10 to $1 million.
The game offers impressive odds, with a 1 in 1,958,400 chance of winning the top prize and a 1 in 3.65 chance of winning any prize. Notably, every prize awarded by the Virginia Lottery benefits Virginia's K-12 public schools, supporting education statewide.
Talking of unexpected incidents, a 54-year-old woman in the US discovered she had won a staggering $207,199 (approximately Rs 1.73 crore) in the Second Chance online lottery games through an email that had landed in her Spam folder. Initially, the woman, who chose to remain anonymous, was sceptical about the email's authenticity, given its classification as junk mail. However, after verifying the information, she was thrilled to learn that her drawing entries had indeed secured her a significant prize.
According to the New York Post, lottery officials confirmed the woman's win, highlighting the unexpected twist that led to her discovery of the life-changing news.
