Man sits for breakfast, discovers he won $7 million in Virginia lottery between bites
A Maryland man went to his office, got ready to eat breakfast, and scratched off a handful of Virginia lottery tickets while he ate.
Eric Austin looked at the prize on the ticket, then looked at it again.
“It didn’t register at first,” Austin told lottery officials. “I had to look at it a couple of times.”
It was a massive number to process: He had just won $7 million.
The Maryland man bought his tickets at a 7-Eleven in Alexandria near where he works, he told lottery officials. He brought them back to the office, along with his breakfast that morning.
Austin had the option of taking out the full prize in yearly payments for 30 years, or cashing out the lump sum of $4.2 million before taxes, according to lottery officials. He chose the lump cash option.
The odds of winning the top prize of $7 million in the 100X The Money game are 1-in-2,611,200, according to the Virginia Lottery.
The 7-Eleven that sold the winning ticket received a $10,000 bonus, lottery officials said.
If you or a loved one shows signs of gambling addiction, you can seek help by calling the national gambling hotline at 1-800-522-4700 or visiting the National Council on Problem Gambling website.
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