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Virginia man didn’t realize he won $5 million on lottery scratcher: ‘You’re crazy’

Posted at 12:24 PM, Oct 16, 2019
and last updated 2019-10-16 12:25:03-04

GREENE COUNTY, Va. — A Virginia man got the surprise of a lifetime recently when they realized they won $5 million on a Virginia Lottery scratcher.

William Shifflett says he scratched his 5 Million Dollar Payday ticket but had no clue he won big.

“I didn’t know what it was,” said the Greene County man.

So, William decided to show the ticket to another customer at Payton’s Grocery.

“He said, ‘You won $5 million!’” William recalled. “I said, ‘You’re crazy!’”

It turns out, the customer was right. William was the first $5 million winner for the 5 Million Dollar Payday scratcher.

William and his wife Lucille choose to take a one-time cash option of $3,285,150 before taxes instead of taking the full $5 million over 30 years.

Since William is the first $5 million prize winner, that means the game still has three top prizes unclaimed. The scratcher features a top prize of $5 million and a second prize of $200,000. The odds of winning that top prize are 1 in 1,530,000.

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