Woman Wins $1 Million Powerball Lottery Twice in a Day
A Virginia woman accidentally purchased two Powerball tickets, which both won her $1 million each in the same day.
Virginia Fike had intended to buy one Powerball ticket and one Mega Millions ticket from the OldeStone Truck Stop & Restaurant in Clear Brook, Va., but ended up with two winning tickets from the same draw with the same set of numbers- 5-13-17-20-30- according to the Associated Press.
"I'm in shock!" Fike said in a statement released by the Virginia Lottery. "I picked numbers based on my parents' anniversary and their ages at that time, divided by the year they were married. I just love the jackpot games and I play when I can afford it."
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Fike, who is from Berryville, discovered that she had won $1 million from the $80 million Powerball jackpot on April 7 while sitting in a hospital room with her mother, and then luckily won again.
"I saw a scroll on TV about there being two $1 million winners. I looked at my mom and said 'Wouldn't it be funny if it was us?'" Fike said.
The 44-year-old was eventually presented with a $2 million check and said that she plans on using the money to "take care of [her] parents" and pay bills.
The odds of winning the $1 million prize is said to be one in 5,153,632.65, but lottery officials say that Fike's situation is not "uncommon."
"It's not that uncommon for people to buy tickets in games with the same number, but this is the biggest prize we've ever had in Virginia of two tickets in the same drawing," Virginia Lottery spokesman John Hagerty told ABCNews.com.
In order to win the Powerball jackpot, a ticket holder must match the five numbers and the sixth Powerball number. Fike did not match the Powerball number and there were no jackpot winners the night that she won $1 million twice.
Fike will take home $1.4 million after taxes, and the store where she purchased her tickets will receive a $20,000 bonus just for selling the winning tickets.
