Man wins lottery but narrowly misses out on becoming a billionaire

A man was thrilled to find out he’d won a major lottery prize – before realising he was only one digit away from an even bigger jackpot.

Carlos Gutirrez bought a lottery ticket while waiting for his lunch at Lee’s Sandwiches in Falls Church, Virginia on October 9.

When he returned the next day the employees were buzzing, saying a ticket bought there had won the previous evening.

Carlos checked his ticket and found out he’d won a life changing $1 million (£827,430) – but was shocked to realise he could have pocketed the entire $1.55 billion (£1.28 billion) jackpot if he hadn’t changed the Powerball number at the last minute.

In a spur of the moment decision, he used number 19 as his Powerball number instead of the winning 14.

Upon collecting the prize at lottery headquarters, Carlos said that he plans to use some of his winnings to expand his business.

Virginia Lottery officials said: ‘Powerball drawings are held at 10.59pm Mondays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays.

‘The odds of matching all six numbers to win the jackpot are 1 in 292.2 million. The overall odds of winning any Powerball prize are 1 in 25.

‘All Virginia Lottery profits go to K-12 education in Virginia.

‘Mr. Gutierrez lives in Fairfax County, which received more than $48.5 million (£40.1 million) in Lottery funds for K-12 education last fiscal year.

‘In fiscal year 2023, the Lottery raised more than $867 million (£717 million) for K-12 education, making up approximately 10 percent of Virginia’s total K-12 school budget.’

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