Sometimes a snap decision can result in an unexpected windfall. This was what happened with Cynthia Howell of Williamsburg, who only intended to bet on the Virginia Lottery’s Mega Millions game when she went to the Food Lion to buy a ticket. On impulse, Howell also decided to get a Virginia Lottery Win for Life ticket, using family birthdays and anniversaries as her numbers. She then became the seventh winner of the Win for Life top prize in 2009 during the December 19 drawing, successfully matching all six winning numbers.
Betting on the Virginia Lottery Win for Life game is simple. All you have to do is get a playslip and pick six numbers from one to 42 on a play area. Each game costs $1 and you can play as many as 26 consecutive draws using the same numbers on one ticket. You can also subscribe to the Win for Life game to ensure that you never miss a game. Each subscription is good for three, six and twelve months or 26, 52 or 104 drawings respectively. While single tickets must be bought at Virginia Lottery outlets, subscriptions can be bought online at the Virginia Lottery site. หวยออนไลน์
During the online drawings, six winning numbers are drawn plus a seventh Free Ball number. You win the grand prize if your ticket matches all six numbers. If you only match five numbers plus the Free Ball number, you win $52,000 or the equivalent of $1,000 a week for a year. There are also consolation prizes ranging from $600 to $2 depending on how many numbers you’ve matched and if the winning numbers include the Free Ball number. You can check to see if you’ve won by watching the streaming video of the daily drawings on the Virginia Lottery website, check out the Lottery’s Facebook site and Twitter feeds to get results, visit the nearest Virginia Lottery outlet or call the Player Information Line. Your local newspaper may also publish the results.
Once you’ve won, you can claim your prizes at any of the Virginia Lottery Customer Service centers, the Lottery Headquarters and Prize Zones located in lottery outlets (for lesser prizes). You can also claim your prize through mail by sending your signed winning ticket to the Virginia Lottery Claims office. If you’re a subscriber, however, you will be notified with claim information if you’ve won the grand prize or will be sent a check within three weeks of the winning draw if you’ve won lesser prizes ranging from $30 to $52,000.
If you’re having trouble picking numbers to bet on the Win for Life game, the Virginia Lottery site offers a number of ways that can help you. For example, it offers a random number generator that picks five sets of numbers at random ranging from 1 to 42. You can also look at the site’s analysis of how many times a number has been drawn and when it was last drawn, or download a complete list of winning Win for Life numbers so you can do your own analysis. Note, however, that these are merely meant for entertainment purposes, as the online drawings are totally random and every number theoretically has an equal chance of being picked no matter how frequently it was drawn in the past.