Ali Ghaemi bought 200 $1 tickets for a single Virginia Lottery Pick 4 drawing and ended up winning 200 $5,000 prizes, for a total jackpot of $1 million. Photo courtesy of the Virginia Lottery
Sept. 27 (UPI) -- A Virginia Lottery player won $1 million from a drawing with a top prize of $5,000 by purchasing 200 identical tickets.
Ali Ghaemi of Alexandria told Virginia Lottery officials he was preparing to leave town and decided to treat himself to 200 $1 tickets for Sept. 6 Pick 4 drawing.
The tickets Ghaemi bought from the Safeway store on Anderson Road in McLean all bore the numbers 0-2-6-5, which represent the month and year of the player's birth.
Ghaemi's numbers came up in the drawing, earning him 200 $5,000 top prizes -- a total of $1 million.
The player said he remained calm when he discovered his big gamble had paid off.
"I must tell you, I really haven't hit the ceiling," Ghaemi said. "I can't tell you that I jumped up."