Overjoyed winner uses $1 million check to play air guitar at Virginia Lottery office

Dennis “DJ” Gifford may count as the first Virginia Lottery winner to use his $1 million check placard as an air guitar.

Lottery officials shared on Nov. 9 a photo of what seems to be a giddy performance. He appears to be singing, too.

Gifford beat odds of 1 in 1,632,000 to win that much money, and he was clearly seizing his moment at the lottery office.

“I’m 250 pounds, but I’m ready to do a back flip!” he said in a news release. “It feels amazing. I can’t calm down!”

Gifford’s win came in the $1,000,000 Platinum Jackpot game. He bought his $10 scratch-off ticket at the Euro Market in his hometown of Ashland, north of Richmond, officials said.

It was one of three lottery tickets he bought in one day, officials said. If Gifford was feeling lucky, the first two tickets proved him wrong.

Then he checked the third one

“I about had a heart attack where I stood!” Gifford said.

He didn’t mention priorities for spending the money, but beer might be included in the celebration, given his outfit for the photo session. Gifford picked up his winnings wearing a Yuengling Traditional Lager ball cap and a T-shirt that read: “I DON’T ALWAYS DRINK BEER ... OH WAIT, YES I DO.”

The game’s top “prizes will be paid in annual installments for 30 years,” according to the lottery website. The cash value of a $1 million prize is $640,205, after withholdings.

Gifford is the first person to claim a top prize in the $1,000,000 Platinum Jackpot, officials said. The game has two $1 million top prizes left, along with a string of smaller prizes from $10,000 down to $10.

The odds of winning anything in the game are 1 in 3.92, the lottery site reports.

This story was originally published November 11, 2021 at 8:09 AM with the headline "Overjoyed winner uses $1 million check to play air guitar at Virginia Lottery office."