Lottery player sees win in middle of the night — and thinks she’s ‘hallucinating’
A Virginia woman, who was having trouble sleeping, played an online lottery game at about 3 a.m. and won a big prize, lottery officials said.
Melanie Peery won a jackpot prize worth $171,381 in the Virginia Bonus Wheel online game, the Virginia Lottery said in a May 19 news release.
“I’m seeing things! I’m hallucinating!” the woman said when she saw the lucky results, according to lottery officials.
She couldn’t believe what she was looking at, the lottery said.
“I’m in shock,” Peery told lottery officials.
She plans to invest her winnings, according to lottery officials.
The odds of winning in the game, which began in May 2022 and has a progressive jackpot, vary by price, with tickets ranging from 5 cents to $2, lottery officials said.
The estimated jackpot as of May 21 is $48,645, according to the lottery.
This story was originally published May 21, 2025 at 7:52 AM with the headline "Lottery player sees win in middle of the night — and thinks she’s ‘hallucinating’."
