VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. - While making a stop for gas on the way home from work, a Virginia Beach woman was surprised to learn she had won big in the Virginia Lottery.
Norma Blanchard stopped at the Love Food Mart at 920 Diamond Springs Road to fill up her gas tank. While she was there, she decided to pick up a few Virginia Lottery Scratcher tickets to play at home.
Little did she know, one of them, a Green Cash Millions ticket, was actually a top prize winner. When she finally did scratch the ticket, she couldn't believe what she saw and immediately showed it to her son.
“He threw the ticket in the air while I was yelling and screaming,” she later told Lottery officials.
Blanchard had the choice of taking the full $1 million in annual payments over 30 years or a one-time cash option of $602,410 before taxes. She chose the cash option.
“It’s a feeling I’ve never had before!” she said. “I can’t stop smiling!”
Green Cash Millions is one of the Million Series of games from the Virginia Lottery, and it features prizes ranging from $10 to $1 million. The odds of winning that top prize are 1 in 1,305,600, while the odds of winning any prize in this game are 1 in 3.91.
The Virginia Lottery says Blanchard's win is the second top prize claimed in the Million Series, which means one more remains unclaimed.
