A woman from Triangle won the Virginia Lottery. More in a press release:
All Felecia Hall wanted was some change for a taxi, so she could go to lunch with her son. She stopped by Connie’s Market in Triangle and bought a Golden Spades Scratcher ticket from the Virginia Lottery.
It wasn’t until later, after she’d sat down and ordered lunch in the restaurant, that she discovered she’d won the $1 million top prize.
“I thought I was going to have a heart attack right there in the restaurant,” she said. “I couldn’t breathe.”
Ms. Hall, who lives in Triangle, said she had won $110 in the same game just the previous night.
She had the choice of taking the full $1 million prize over 30 years or a one-time cash option of $561,798 before taxes. She chose the cash option. In addition, the store receives a $10,000 bonus from the Lottery for selling the winning ticket.
Golden Spades features prizes ranging from $10 up to $1 million. Ms. Hall is the first $1 million winner to claim, which means two million-dollar tickets remain unclaimed. The chances of winning the top prize in this game are 1 in 1,305,600. The chances of winning any prize are 1 in 3.4.
Ms. Hall works as a surgical technician. She said she intends to use her winnings to take care of her family.
“It just seems a little surreal,” she said as she claimed her prize.
