Woman wins $1 million lottery twice in the same day

A woman matched the winning numbers on two lottery tickets she bought on the same day earning her $1 million for each.

Woman Wins Lottery Twice

Virginia Fike, 44, of Clarke County, Virginia, had purchased two Powerball tickets on April 7. They were each the winners of $1 million prizes each.

After she bought the lottery tickets at the OldeStone Truck Stop & Restaurant, Fike learned that both of them contained the same five winning numbers – 5-13-17-20-30.

“I’m in shock!” Fike said in a news release from the Virginia lottery.

“I picked numbers based on my parents’ anniversary and their ages at that time. Then I divided by the year they were married,” Fike said in the release. “I just love the jackpot games and I play when I can afford it.”

After the drawing, it was announced that no one had won the jackpot, but 14 people nationwide had matched five of the numbers and were entitled to $1 million prizes each. Two of the winning tickets were in Virginia.

When She Realized That She Won

Fike was in the hospital with her mother when she realized she won.

“I saw a scroll on TV about there being two $1 million winners. I looked at my mom and said ‘Wouldn’t it be funny if it was us?'” she said.

When she stopped by a convenience store, Fike had the clerk check her lottery tickets. She discovered that she had won both of Virginia’s $1 million prizes.

Per Virginia state lottery rules, winners split the jackpot, regardless of how many there are. However, non-jackpot prizes from matching part of the winning sequence are not split and can be won multiple times.

“It’s not that uncommon for people to buy tickets in games with the same number, but this is the biggest prize we’ve ever had in Virginia of two tickets in the same drawing,” Virginia Lottery spokesman John Hagerty told ABCNews.com.