$1 Million Lottery Ticket Split By 11 Friends In Woodbridge Area

WOODBRDIGE, VA—According to the Virginia Lottery, there's this bunch of friends who call themselves the "Awesome Eleven," and each week one of them buys a Mega Millions ticket for the group. Well, what the group won Oct. 23 was pretty awesome, indeed. Namely, they split a $1 million ticket in that night's $1.54 billion Mega Millions drawing.

The winning ducat was bought in Giant Food at 4309 Dale Boulevard in Dale City, and matched the first five winning numbers, missing only the Mega Ball number. Shortly after the drawing, De Hieu Vo of Woodbridge sent the group a text saying: "We won!" It included a photo of the ticket.

"They all thought I was kidding," he said of his friends, some of whom have known each other since high school some 40 years ago. Their winning ticket was one of two in Virginia to win the $1 million prize in the historic drawing.

Photo: Virginia Lottery