MANASSAS, VA – A Prince William County couple is $1 million richer today after winning the top prize of a Winners Club scratch off ticket.
The Virginia Lottery Board reports that the couple bought the winning ticket at Bailey’s Market & Carry Out on Leesburg Pike in Falls Church. Virginia law allows winners of prizes greater than $1 million to remain anonymous.
The prize offers an option to collect the full $1 million in increments over 30 years or to accept a one-time cash payout of $476,000 before taxes. This couple chose the one-time payout. She told the Virginia Lottery officials she plans to pay some bills, buy a car for her son and take a family vacation with the money, then save the rest.
Winners Club is one of dozens of scratcher games offered by the Virginia Lottery. It features prizes ranging from $30 up to that $1,000,000 top prize. This is the first top prize claimed in this game, which means two more remain unclaimed. The chances of winning the top prize are 1 in 408,000. The chances of winning any prize are 1 in 2.95.
The winner plans to pay some bills, take a small family vacation, buy a car for her son, and save the rest.
A Reston man won $100,000 Powerball Prize earlier this month.
The Virginia Lottery board reports that all state lottery profits go to kindergarten through 12th grade education in the state, and that Prince William County got more than $63.3 million in lottery funds last fiscal year.
State lotteries are also criticized for funneling wealth out of poor communities. A 2022 study by the University of Maryland's Howard Center for Investigative Journalism found that stores that sell tickets are disproportionately clustered in lower-income communities in nearly every state.
The study's first-of-its-kind analysis of cellphone location data also showed that the people shopping at those lottery retailers come from lower-income neighborhoods. Opponents like the nonprofit Stop Predatory Gambling argue this amounts to shifting a disproportionate tax burden to the poor.
In 2024, the Motley Fool calculated that Virginia residents spent $579 per capita on lotteries, the second most in the nation. Virginia offers the biggest payouts, but customers still lose money overall.
The Howard Center investigation found that state gambling revenue had grown from $47 billion in 2005 to $82 billion at the time of their study and generate more revenue than corporate income tax in 10 states.
The Virginia Lottery directs anyone looking for funding information to its Giving Back page.
Anyone who thinks they or someone they know may have a gambling problem can contact the Virginia Problem Gambling Helpline at 888-532-3500. The helpline is available by call, text or chat 24/7.
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