$1 million win makes Halifax County man 2nd time million-dollar winner

Willard Weber of Littleton is no stranger to good luck, but he never expected be a million-dollar winner twice in less than a year.

“I never thought it would ever happen to me,” he said. “But it did. I’m very happy.”

Back in August 2020, Weber and his coworker, Dean Glover of Littleton, split a $4 million Ruby Red 7s top prize.

But Weber’s good luck didn’t end there. Last week, he stopped at the Information Grocery on U.S. 158 in Halifax and tried his luck on a new $30 Millionaire Maker ticket and headed home to scratch it off.

“I didn’t even know I won,” he said. “I missed the number, so I didn’t see it when I scratched it off. That’s the second time. I didn’t see it the first time either.”

Luckily, he decided to double check his tickets.

“I was scanning all my old tickets and one of them said I had to take it to lottery headquarters,” recalled Weber. But he still couldn’t find the winning match, so he asked the cashier to take a look, too.

“That’s when we noticed 23 matched,” he said. “I couldn’t believe it was the exact same number I hit on last time, either.”

Back in August, he said he planned to buy an antique convertible car. On Monday, he confirmed, “I did buy that Cadillac El Dorado.”

Weber had the option of taking the $1 million as an annuity of $50,000 a year over 20 years, or a lump sum of $600,000. He chose the lump sum and took home $424,509 after required federal and state tax withholdings.

This time around, Weber’s winnings are going in the bank. “Just going in to savings for now,” he said.

Millionaire Maker is the first scratch-off to offer 30 $1 million prizes. Weber became the first person to win one of those $1 million prizes.