Virginia lottery winner who beat 1:749,398 odds for $230,000 stuck to a pact to split it with his brother

• Two brothers in Virginia split a lottery jackpot.
• Tim and Steve Cornwell made a pact to split their winnings.

Two brothers in Virginia made a pact to split their lottery winnings.

So when Tim Cornwell won a lottery prize worth $230,000 on December 18th, he split the jackpot with his brother Steve, according to the Virginia Lottery.

"We always say that if one of us wins, we'll split it," Tim Cornwell told Virginia Lottery officials. "I couldn't wait for my brother to wake up so I could tell him."

The winning numbers of the Cash 5 with EZ Match ticket were 3-8-10-12-26. Tim said the numbers came from important dates and birthdays in his family.

The Virginia Lottery reported that the odds of matching all five numbers in the Cash 5 are 1 in 749,398.

The Virginia Lottery is state-operated, and profits go to K-12 schools. In 2023, the Virginia Lottery reported raising more than $867 million for education, which made up 10% of the state's total K-12 school budget.

In the 2023 fiscal year, the Virginia Lottery reported sales of $4.6 billion. More than $3.4 billion went to players in the form of prizes, more than $137 million went to the retailers who sold the tickets, and $195 million went toward operational expenses.