Man hits lottery win on a whim after getting $5 'side hustle' tip

A man in Virginia Beach, Virginia went out to make a little extra money — but what he thought would be just another day driving for the ride-share company Lyft as a "side hustle," turned into big bucks after he bought a lottery ticket on a whim.

Ryan Pasch took a $5 cash tip he received from an appreciative customer and went to a local gas station to refill his vehicle's tank. It was there that he decided to buy a "Strike It Rich" scratch-off ticket to try his luck.

The chances of winning are slim, according to the Virginia Lottery's website — just 1 in 1,224,000.

Pasch walked into the 7-Eleven store and bought the ticket. As he scratched off the opaque substance on the paper ticket he said he "got a little light-headed" when he realized he was a $150,000 top-prize winner.

“I was pretty stoked!” he told lottery officials.

In fact, Pasch had won the third and final top prize for the game, causing Virginia lottery officials to shut the game down.

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Virginia lottery officials said their policy is to close scratcher games after the last top prize made available has been claimed.

Pasch smiled in a photo taken by the state's lottery organization wearing a black hoodie and holding a large green Virginia Lottery check with his prize amount imprinted on the front.

Lottery officials said Pasch's hometown of Virginia Beach received almost $34.9 million in lottery money that went to fund K-12 education programs for the most recent fiscal year.