August 22, 2008, will always be an important date for William Knapp of Blue Ridge. That’s the day he bought 20 tickets for the Virginia Lottery’s Pick 4 night drawing, all with the same four-number combination, and they all won!
“My wife heard me gasp,” he told Lottery officials. “She said, ‘What’s wrong?’ I told her, ‘I just won!’ I never play for that much.”
The winning number combination was 7-6-6-7. Of his 20 tickets, 19 won the game’s top prize of $5,000, because he wagered “exact order” for them. The other ticket won $2,500 because he wagered "50-cent exact order." His total for the night drawing came to $97,500.
He bought the tickets at two different locations: Blue Ridge Minute Mart, located at 42 Blue Ridge Drive in Blue Ridge and Kroger, located at 614 Brandon Avenue in Roanoke.
Mr. Knapp, who has been the head dairy clerk at the Kroger on Brandon Avenue for 38 years, said he intends to put the winnings toward savings and retirement.
Pick 4 drawings are held daily at 1:59 p.m. and 11:00 p.m. The chances of matching all four numbers in exact order are 1 in 10,000.
