February 20th 2025.
Kelly Lindsay, a resident of Carrollton, was eagerly anticipating playing her favorite Virginia Lottery scratcher game. She had been looking forward to the thrill of scratching off the ticket and seeing if she had won. However, things did not go as planned when she was mistakenly given a different ticket by the lottery retailer.
Feeling disappointed, Kelly went to the car park and scratched off the incorrect ticket, a Money Blitz game. To her surprise, she revealed a seven-digit figure that left her in disbelief. Despite the initial mix-up, Kelly was now $2 million richer and couldn't believe her luck.
The Virginia Lottery was quick to share Kelly's story on Tuesday, where she revealed that she had initially been upset about the mistake but quickly got over it when she realized she had won big. She opted to receive a one-time cash payment of $1.25 million instead of annual payments over 30 years, which would have amounted to the full $2 million prize.
In a photo shared by the Virginia Lottery, a beaming Kelly can be seen holding a jumbo check with her winnings written on it, along with a picture of the scratcher ticket. Her odds of winning the top prize were one in 1,142,400, and she was one of two lucky winners of this game. The other winner has yet to come forward.
It's no surprise that Kelly's favorite game has quickly become a new favorite for many others, with odds of winning any prize at one in 3.29. Kelly purchased her lucky ticket at the Race Way Carrollton gas station, located at 13028 Carrollton Boulevard.
As a resident of Isle of Wight County, Kelly's win also means a boost for the local education system. Last year, the county received over $3.7 million from the Virginia Lottery for kindergarten to 12th grade education. It's worth noting that the Virginia Lottery allocates all its profits to K-12 education, raising over $934 million last year, which accounts for 10% of the state's education budget.
Kelly is not the only lottery player to get lucky through an unexpected mistake. In May 2021, a North Carolina woman won $2 million after unknowingly buying a Powerball ticket past the deadline for the same night's drawing. Her $3 Quick Pick ticket ended up being valid for the following drawing, which she won, with odds of one in 11.6 million.
Join our community on WhatsApp to stay updated with the latest news and juicy stories from Metro. Don't forget to follow us for more breaking news. When asked about her unexpected win, Kelly said, "When I got the message saying that I had won, I thought, 'Well, I didn't even play tonight.'" Such is the beauty of life, where sometimes the best things happen when we least expect them.
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