Va Lottery photo

NEWS RELEASE: Mark Linkous bought two tickets for the Virginia Lottery’s February 2 Cash 5 night drawing. He had the exact same five numbers on both tickets: 9-20-27-31-33. When those ended up being the winning numbers, both of his tickets won the $100,000 top prize for a total win of $200,000.

“I couldn’t believe it!” the Pulaski man told Lottery officials as he claimed his prize.

He bought both tickets at BP Express Stop, located at 611 East Main Street in Pulaski.

He discovered he had two winning tickets as he sat watching television the day after the drawing. At first he thought he’d only matched three numbers, rather than all five.

Cash 5 drawings are held daily at 1:59 p.m. and 11 p.m. The odds of winning the $100,000 top prize are 1 in 278,256.

The Virginia Lottery is good fun for a great cause. Mr. Linkous lives in Pulaski County, which received more than $2.9 million in Lottery funds for K-12 public education in Fiscal Year 2019. For more information and a complete list of Lottery funds distributed to Virginia school districts, visit the Virginia Lottery’s Giving Back page.