‘I’ll give it a shot.’ Shopper sees lottery machine — and buys a life-changing ticket
A man was shopping for groceries when he saw a lottery machine — and bought a life-changing ticket.
“I looked at it again to make sure I wasn’t seeing things,” Palmer Stillman told the Virginia Lottery.
But his $500,000 windfall was the real deal, and it marked the last of three top prizes won in the Cash is King scratch-off game.
“It hasn’t sunk in yet,” Stillman told lottery officials in a Sept. 19 news release. “I’m sure it will.”
Stillman said the surprising moment came after he left work and stopped at a grocery store. He was at a Food Lion supermarket in Virginia Beach when he spent $20 to play the Cash is King game.
“Okay, I’ll give it a shot,” he thought as he saw a machine selling the scratch-off tickets.
The lucky winner, who is from Chesapeake, beat 1-in-612,000 odds to win his half-million dollar prize. Lottery officials in their news release didn’t reveal how much he kept after taxes.
Stillman isn’t the first winner to take another glance at his ticket. In Maryland, another lucky lottery player had to “do a double take” after discovering he was getting richer, McClatchy News reported in June.
This story was originally published September 23, 2024 at 3:21 PM with the headline "‘I’ll give it a shot.’ Shopper sees lottery machine — and buys a life-changing ticket."
