Dad gives newlywed son winning lottery ticket as wedding gift. Now, he has big plans

A dad gave his newlywed son a very valuable wedding gift — a winning Virginia Lottery ticket.

Aaron Andrews and his wife got married in April and have been living in Andrews’ dad’s basement, according to an Aug. 29 news release from the Virginia Lottery.

Andrews’ dad is a frequent lottery player, and one day he went to a convenience store and bought a Cash4Life ticket with randomly generated numbers, lottery officials said.

He matched five numbers but missed the cash ball in the Aug. 3 drawing to win a second-tier prize of $1,000 a week for life, according to the Virginia Lottery.

He decided to give the ticket to his son.

“This was the best way to get him out of my basement,” the dad joked to lottery officials.

Andrews chose a one-time payment of $1 million and said he plans to buy a home with the money.

“I have a great father who has done nothing but look out for me,” he told lottery officials.

The odds of winning $1,000 a week for life are 1 in 7,282,016, according to the Virginia Lottery. The top prize in the game is $1,000 a day for life.

The family members live in Prince William County, which is part of the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area.

This story was originally published August 29, 2024 at 5:09 PM with the headline "Dad gives newlywed son winning lottery ticket as wedding gift. Now, he has big plans."