Virginia Fike of Berryville, Virginia, had the good luck to buy not one but two lottery tickets from a truck stop that both turned out to be $1 million winners, matching five of the six Powerball numbers. Lottery officials presented her with a $2 million check on Friday.
Fike said she found out that she had won - and won again - while sitting in a hospital room with her mother, according to a statement distributed by the Virginia lottery, as Reuters reports.
"I saw a scroll on TV about there being two $1 million winners," she said. "I looked at my mom and said `Wouldn`t it be funny if it was us?`"
She said she planned on using the money to "take care of my parents" and pay bills.
For selling the tickets, the lottery awarded a $20,000 bonus to the Olde Stone Truck Stop.
To win the full Powerball jackpot, which currently stands at $131 million, a ticket must match the numbers on all five white balls in the drawing, plus the red Powerball. The $1 million cash prize is awarded for a ticket that matches the five numbers on the white balls, in any order.
The odds of winning $1 million? One in 5,153,632.65. The drawing takes place every Wednesday and Saturday night.
"I just love the jackpot games and I play when I can afford it," Fike said in the statement.
(C003)
Editor: Ade P Marboen
Copyright © ANTARA 2012
