A man holds out four 20 dollar bills in his hands. (Pixabay)
(Tribune News Service) — A man who served 26 years in the U.S. Army went from average retiree to wealthy retiree after he won a top prize in the Virginia Lottery.
It happened as David Revill was playing Wheel of Bonuses, an online game with a “progressive” jackpot that grows until someone wins.
The pot of cash had just topped $2 million when Revill realized it was his for the taking, lottery officials said in an April 1 news release.
“I was kind of stunned at first,” Revill said in the news release. “I saw it and thought, ‘No, it can never …’ ”
His winnings came to $2,164,899, which means he was still a millionaire after taxes.
Lottery prizes of more than $5,000 face a 24% federal tax rate and a 4% state tax rate, officials said. Taxes are withheld automatically when the winner comes to collect.
Details of how Revill intended to use the money were not revealed. His home is in Gainesville, Virginia, about a 35-mile drive southwest from Washington, D.C.
Overall odds in Wheel of Bonuses are 1 in 3.67. Players “try to reveal a cluster of three or more matching symbols to win a prize.”
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