Virginia Lottery Scratcher Provides His Second Big Lottery Win
When Jim Spillane of Bristow, Va., scratched his Redskins Legacy ticket to win the top prize of $1 million, he might have felt a bit of déjà vu.
In 2003, he won $250,000 in the Virginia Lottery's Mega Bucks Scratcher game.
This year, Spillane became the first $1 million prize winner in the Redskins Legacy game with a ticket he bought at In & Out Mart on Mathis Avenue in Manassas, Va.
He received his check from Virginia Lottery executive director Paula Otto in a presentation at Redskins Park on Monday.
"When I saw I had won the million, I had to look at it two or three times to make sure I wasn't dreaming," Spillane said. "I was surprised because it's not what you expect. Then I just went out to my car and called my wife."
Spillane had a choice between taking the full $1 million over 25 years or an immediate cash option of $622,000. He chose the cash option. The store received a $10,000 bonus for selling the ticket.
As part of the presentation, Spillane -- a long-time Redskins fan -- was given a Redskins jersey with his name on it. Later he had the opportunity to meet head coach Mike Shanahan.
Spillane works as a site analyst. He is the first player to claim the top prize of $1 million over 25 years in Redskins Legacy. There are still two top-prize tickets yet to be claimed.
Spillane is going to keep on playing -- just as he did after he won the $250,000 prize in 2003.
"I got a little bit of gambler in me," he smiled. "I like to gamble."
Redskins Legacy is a unique game that features seven different collectable tickets, each with a different Redskins logo used during the team's 75-year history. Players can enter non-winning tickets in the "Stay in the Game Sweepstakes" for additional great Redskins prizes, including season tickets and trips with the team to away games.
The Virginia Lottery generates approximately $1.2 million per day for Virginia's K-12 public schools.
Operating entirely on revenue from the sale of Lottery products, rather than tax dollars, the Virginia Lottery raised more than $430.2 million for Virginia's public schools in fiscal year 2010. That represents about 8 percent of state funding for public education in Virginia.
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