Woman plays lottery game online while feeding horses — and wins life-changing jackpot

While feeding horses at her barn, a Virginia woman decided to play a few online lottery games.

Then, she won a life-changing jackpot prize, the Virginia lottery said in a March 19 news release.

Amy Sylvester, from the Fredericksburg area, won $3,046,100 in the March 1 Jackpot Spectacular drawing, the lottery said.

“I was surprised,” Sylvester told lottery officials. “I didn’t think it was real.”

The odds of winning in the Jackpot Spectacular game are 1 in 3.99, with the odds of winning the jackpot ranging by ticket price, according to the lottery.

Tickets cost between 50 cents and $50, and estimated jackpot as of March 19 is more than $1 million, lottery officials said.

Fredericksburg is about a 55-mile drive southwest of Washington, D.C.

This story was originally published March 19, 2025 at 3:22 PM with the headline "Woman plays lottery game online while feeding horses — and wins life-changing jackpot."

Natalie Demaree

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Natalie Demaree is a service journalism reporter covering Mississippi for McClatchy Media. She holds a master’s in journalism from Columbia Journalism School and a bachelor’s in journalism and political science with a specialization in African and African American Studies from the University of Arkansas.