CHESTER, Va. — Christopher Leydic of Chester was shocked to discover that he was the winner of the nearly $1 million jackpot in the Virginia Lottery’s Cash 5 with EZ Match game. Leydic matched all five numbers in the August 17 drawing, winning a jackpot worth $958,740.
Initially, Leydic noticed that the Cash 5 jackpot had reset to its starting value of $200,000 and thought, “Oh, somebody won it.” What he didn’t realize at the time was that he was the lucky winner.
“It was unbelievable!” Leydic told Virginia Lottery officials. “I thought, ‘Is this real?’”
Leydic purchased his winning ticket online, which players can do through the Virginia Lottery app or on the Lottery’s website, valottery.com. The winning numbers for the August 17 drawing were 10, 15, 31, 36, and 43.
A retired first sergeant who served 21 years in the Army, Leydic stated that he has no immediate plans for his winnings, other than to save and pay off bills.
Cash 5 with EZ Match offers a rolling jackpot that starts at $200,000. The odds of matching all five numbers to win the jackpot are 1 in 1,221,759.