FORT BELVOIR, VA – Sergeant First Class Gary Williams, a resident of Fort Belvoir, Virginia, woke up on a Saturday morning to discover that he had won the jackpot of $143,553 in the Virginia Lottery’s Cash 5 with EZ Match drawing held on March 31. Williams, who bought his winning ticket at the Woodland Exxon gas station in Alexandria, was in disbelief when he saw the winning numbers and realized that he was the lucky winner.
However, there was a catch. Williams had won the jackpot on April 1, which happens to be April Fools’ Day. His son even thought it was a joke until they confirmed the winning numbers with Lottery officials.
Cash 5 with EZ Match is a popular game that offers players a chance to win big by matching all five numbers. With a minimum starting jackpot of $100,000, the game has odds of 1 in 749,398. Players who spend an extra dollar for EZ Match receive five randomly generated numbers, each with a prize of up to $500 associated with it. If any of those numbers match the ticket’s numbers for the drawing, the player wins that prize, even before the drawing is held.
Williams, who serves in the U.S. Army as a recruiter, plans to put his winnings towards retirement. With the odds against him, Williams is grateful for his stroke of luck and looks forward to his future.