A lucky punter who changed his mind and bought a lotto ticket instead of a scratchcard has become a millionaire.

Bryan J. Vaughan from Midland, in the US state of Virginia, had initially intended to buy an instant ticket but decided to go for a Cash 5 ticket at the local Wawa store.

He was stunned when he realised he had made a million-dollar decision after he matched winning numbers 1, 4, 16, 29, and 42, for a USD 1.38 million (GBP 1.1 million) jackpot on Thursday, 9th November.

Bryan said in a statement obtained by Newsflash from the Virginia Lottery: “I’m still in disbelief! I want to take this slow, and I want to do the right things with it.”

Lottery representatives said Bryan had beat a 1 in 749,389 chance of hitting the jackpot.

They added: “Cash 5 with EZ Match features a rolling jackpot, starting at a minimum of USD 100,000 [GBP 79,635].

“In addition, a player who spends an extra dollar for EZ Match receives five randomly generated numbers with a prize of up to USD 500 [GBP 398] associated with each number.

“If those numbers match any of the numbers on the ticket for the drawing, the player wins that prize – even before the drawing is held.

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

“Mr. Vaughan lives in Fauquier County, which received more than USD 3.9 million [GBP 3.1 million] in Lottery funds for K-12 education last fiscal year.

“In Fiscal Year 2023, the Lottery raised more than USD 867 million [GBP 690 million] for K-12 education, making up approximately 10 per cent of Virginia’s total K-12 school budget.”