News writer
We all want to win when playing the lottery, but how about winning 30 times in one drawing? That is what happened to one lucky Virginia Lottery player!
30 wins, one drawing!
Patrick Murphy was the recipient of 30 wins in one drawing, as he was lucky enough to match all four of the winning numbers in the Pick 4 game.
The Chesapeake man had the winning four-digit combination on 30 tickets for the September 19 night drawing. For the 30 wins, Murphy had 24 “exact order” tickets, with each of those tickets winning $5,000. He also had six tickets with a “50/50” wager, with these tickets winning $2,700 apiece.
That brought his total winnings to $136,200.
“I couldn't believe it!” he told lottery officials. “I had to look it over and over!”
The winning four-digit combination for that September 19 drawing was 2-7-7-0. Murphy purchased the winning tickets at the 7-Eleven, located at 1928 Battlefield Boulevard in Chesapeake.
Now that he has claimed his winnings, the retiree said he has no immediate plans for his winnings except to pay some bills.
Quick stop before work pays off
A quick stop before work paid off for Keroles Fanawel, as he won the top prize on one of Virginia Lottery's scratch-off games.
While it takes some people a little time to figure out if they won or not on an instant ticket, Fanawel said he didn't need much time at all. He told lottery officials, “I realized right away!”
He said he stopped at Kwik E Mart, located at 299 Floyd Thompson Boulevard in Hampton, before work and purchased the Diamond Spectacular scratcher game.
It paid off, as he ended up winning the top prize for the game — $1 million!
He made his way to the Virginia Lottery Headquarters to claim his winnings, and he had to make a choice: take the full prize in annual payments over 30 years or choose a one-time cash option of $500,000 before taxes. Fanawel chose the cash option.
For selling the winning ticket, Kwik E Mart received a $10,000 bonus for the Virginia Lottery.
Another big scratcher winner
This lucky winner was able to use some spare change to purchase a scratcher, and that strategy paid off when she brought bags of cash home.
Rozina Bhatti told lottery officials that she and her husband go to a store and will use whatever spare change they have to play a lottery game. They recently used this strategy and bought a Bags of Cash ticket from the Virginia Lottery and won the game's $500,000 top prize.
Bhatti, of Fairfax, told lottery officials, “I'm so excited! I'm so happy!” After claiming her prize, Bhatti said they had no immediate plans for the winnings.
The couple purchased the winning ticket from NGH Shell, located at 11090 Main Street in Fairfax.
After she claimed the top prize, lottery officials said there was still one top prize remaining in the Bags of Cash game. However, another big winner came forward and claimed the one remaining top prize, which means the game is now closed.
Enjoy playing the Virginia Lottery, and please remember to play responsibly.
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