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Wife's need for a lighter leads man to $500,000 lottery prize

A Virginia man said running an errand to buy his wife a lighter paid off with a $500,000 lottery jackpot. Photo courtesy of the Virginia Lottery
A Virginia man said running an errand to buy his wife a lighter paid off with a $500,000 lottery jackpot. Photo courtesy of the Virginia Lottery

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Jan. 17 (UPI) -- A Virginia man scored a $500,000 jackpot from a scratch-off lottery ticket thanks to his wife's need for a new lighter.

Harland Dodson of Colonial Beach told Virginia Lottery officials the only reason he went to the local 7-Eleven was to buy a lighter for his wife, but while he was at the store a display of Virginia Lottery Scratchers tickets caught his eye.

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Dodson bought four tickets, two for himself and two for his wife. He said one of his tickets, a Super 5s game, turned out to be a top prize winner.

"I said to my wife, 'We just won $500,000!'" he recalled. "She said, 'Let me see!' I said, 'No!'"

The Virginia Lottery said Dodson beat odds of 1 in 652,800 to win the top prize.

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