Lottery player buys ticket on Christmas, then wins big on New Year’s Day in Virginia

A lucky Virginia lottery player bought her ticket on Christmas Day, then won a life-changing prize on New Year’s Day, officials said.

Getting the ticket wasn’t an easy feat for Tarikua Dagnachew, as most stores were closed for the holiday, the Virginia Lottery said in a Jan. 29 news release.

But Dagnachew’s persistence paid off with a $1 million win in the New Year’s Millionaire Raffle, the lottery said.

“I knew I was going to win,” Dagnachew told lottery officials as she collected her prize.

She bought her ticket at a gas station in Herndon, about a 20-mile drive northwest from Washington, D.C., the lottery said.

Dagnachew was one of five $1 million top prize winners in the raffle.

The overall odds of winning are 1 in 618, and the odds of winning the top prize are 1 in 125,000, according to the game’s website.

This story was originally published January 30, 2025 at 11:07 AM with the headline "Lottery player buys ticket on Christmas, then wins big on New Year’s Day in Virginia."

Natalie Demaree

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Natalie Demaree is a service journalism reporter covering Mississippi for McClatchy Media. She holds a master’s in journalism from Columbia Journalism School and a bachelor’s in journalism and political science with a specialization in African and African American Studies from the University of Arkansas.