2 Men, 2 7-Elevens, 2 Lottery Tickets, Same Result: $100 Grand

ALEXANDRIA, VA — What are the odds? A few days apart, two men from Washington, D.C., walk into two different 7-Eleven stores in the Alexandria area, purchase Cash 5 tickets from the Virginia Lottery and win the grand prize of $100,000. The odds are against it, but don't tell that to Feleke Zergaw and Brandon Pree.

Actually, the odds of winning the $100,000 top prize in the twice-daily Cash 5 drawing are 1 in 278,256.

First, Mr. Zergaw. On Feb. 24, he stopped by the 7-Eleven convenience store at 2405 Fairhaven Ave., off Richmond Highway (Route 1) and bought a Cash 5 ticket. The winning numbers for that day's drawing were 2-5-21-25-33, and Zergaw hit all five.

He works as a parking lot manager, and told the Virginia Lottery that he plans to save his winnings for retirement.

Next, Mr. Pree. On Feb. 28, he was visiting his mother, Tina, when she told him to play Cash 5, using family birthdays for the numbers. He bought the ticket at a 7-Eleven at 2305 Huntington Ave., near the Huntington Metro and about a mile and a half from the other 7-Eleven.

The birthday approach worked. Pree hit all five numbers in that day's drawing: 11-22-25-26-28.

“The first thing I did was call my mother,” he told the Virginia Lottery. “She started screaming!”

What does he plan to do with his winnings? “Hopefully, he’ll share with me, since I told him to play!” Tina said in a lottery statement.

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The Virginia Lottery holds Cash 5 drawings each day at 1:59 p.m. and 11 p.m. Overall, the lottery says it generates more than $1.5 million per day for Virginia’s public schools, totaling more than a half-billion dollars in fiscal 2017.

For more information and a complete list of lottery funds allocated to Virginia school districts, click here.

Images: Brandon Pree celebrates winning; Feleke Zergaw (Virginia Lottery)