ROANOKE, Va. – A Roanoke man has won the $1 million top prize playing the Golden Spades scratcher game, the Virginia Lottery said.
Jeffrey Mullen bought the winning ticket at the 7-Eleven at 1701 Ninth St.
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Lottery officials said Mullen knew as soon as he scratched his ticket that he had won something, but he said he didn’t realize just how much he'd won -- the $1 million top prize.
Mullen had the choice of taking the full $1 million prize over 30 years or a one-time cash option of $561,798 before taxes, lottery officials said. He chose the cash option.
The store also receives a $10,000 bonus from the lottery for selling the winning ticket, officials said.
Mullen said he hopes to use his winnings to buy a new home and take care of family, according to the Virginia Lottery.
Mullen is the third and final player to claim the top prize in Golden Spades, which means the game is closed, officials said. It is the Virginia Lottery's policy to close scratcher games once the last top prize is claimed. The chances of winning the top prize in this game were 1 in 1,305,600 and the chances of winning any prize were 1 in 3.4.