Va. Lottery photo

From the Virginia Lottery: Charles Stanley of Roanoke may be the master of understatement. Here’s how he described scratching a $1,000,000 High Rollers Club ticket from the Virginia Lottery: “I thought, ‘Well, I’ve won $100,’ but it turns out I won a little more.” Actually, he won a lot more. He won the $1 million top prize. He bought the winning ticket at Brambleton Station, 3809 Brambleton Avenue in Roanoke, which receives a $10,000 bonus from the Virginia Lottery for selling the winning ticket. He had the choice of taking the full $1 million over 30 years or a cash option of $675,982 before taxes. He chose the cash option.

The $1,000,000 High Rollers Club game is one of dozens of Scratchers offered by the Virginia Lottery. It features prizes ranging from $10 up to $1,000,000. Mr. Stanley is the first player to win the $1 million prize in this game, which means three more remain unclaimed. The odds of winning the top prize in this game are 1 in 1,101,600. The odds of winning any prize in $1,000,000 High Rollers Club are 1 in 3.35.

When asked what he intends to do with his winnings, Mr. Stanley joked, “I might buy myself a Pepsi Cola.”