By Mirna Alsharif -
NBC News
A Virginia man who thought he had won $600 on a lottery ticket was in for a big surprise when lottery employees told him he had actually won considerably more.
José Flores Velásquez, a resident of Annandale, Virginia County, won
$1 million.
Velasquez went to a Virginia Lottery customer service center in Prince William County in August to claim his $600 prize when employees broke the news to him: he was the second-biggest winner in the lottery drawing. 20X the Money lottery, which offered "prizes ranging from $10 to $1 million," the Virginia Lottery announced last week.
Jose Flores Velasquez bought the winning ticket at a supermarket when he went to buy soft drinks. Via NBC News
The odds of Velasquez winning a $1 million prize in the 20x the Money game were
1 in 1,754,400
.
The odds of winning a prize as part of the game are 1 in 3.65.
Velasquez bought the $10 lottery ticket at a Safeway supermarket in Annandale, about 15 miles west of Washington DC, where he had gone to get some sodas after work.
Given the option of receiving the $1 million award over 30 years or a one-time cash payment of $759,878 before taxes, Velasquez
opted for the one-time payment.
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Velasquez says he plans to use the money "to take care of his family and possibly start his own business."
The Safeway supermarket that sold Velasquez the winning ticket will also receive a $10,000 bonus, the Virginia Lottery said.
[A woman wins the lottery but throws the ticket in the trash: "I'm waiting for God's plan," she says after finally collecting the prize
]
There is still one unclaimed jackpot ticket
in the 20X the Money game, which had three winning tickets for the $1 million prize.
