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Virginia woman wins $175K with 35 lottery tickets

A woman in Virginia picked the same number combination for 35 $1 plays — and that combo won her the top prize for each lottery ticket.
A woman holds a giant check for her $175,000 lottery winnings
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5-2-0-1.

Those are four lucky numbers for Mandy Garcia of Chesapeake, Virginia.

As it turns out, they were lucky on multiple lottery tickets.

On March 30, Garcia bought 35 $1 plays for the drawing on that day, all with the same four-digit combination.

When her numbers were drawn, all 35 of those plays won the games' $5,000 top prize, for a grand total of $175,000.

"I just couldn’t even believe it!" she told Lottery officials. "My heart started racing! I feel like certain numbers are lucky. I feel like it’s my best chance at winning a lot of money."

Garcia told Virginia Lottery officials that she plans on saving her money to buy a house.

A Mega Millions lottery slip

How much money do lotteries generate and how much goes to winners?

While the winner of the Mega Millions jackpot can make a considerable fortune, other groups stand to make a lot as well.

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