Hurricane Man Fourth Wheel Of Fortune© $10,000 Monthly Winner

April 30, 2010

The fourth $10,000 winner from the West Virginia Lottery’s five monthly Wheel of Fortune© drawings is Bob Bennett of Hurricane, according to Lottery Director John Musgrave.

Retired from the U.S. Marine Corps and Laborers Local Union 1353 in Charleston, Bennett said playing lottery games and visiting with the employees of Speedway in Culloden is one of his favorite pastimes. “I won $10,000 last year on one of the Lottery’s $5 instant tickets and now this; it’ll sure help pay bills.”

Held today in Charleston, the drawing is one of a series of monthly events that lottery officials announced to help celebrate the agency’s 24th Anniversary. The promotion offers players five monthly $10,000 prizes, a $250,000 grand prize, and two trips to Hollywood for Wheel of Fortune© auditions.

The Lottery’s Wheel of Fortune© instant game includes “Free Play” tickets that can be won by players. Those tickets represent entries that can be mailed to the Lottery for inclusion in each monthly drawing for one $10,000 cash prize. The last $10,000 monthly drawing is scheduled for May 28.

In addition, a grand prize drawing is slated for June 25 in which entries will be drawn for a $250,000 cash prize and two trip packages to Hollywood for Wheel of Fortune© auditions. Musgrave said that to improve odds of winning for players, each month’s drawing will include only tickets that were not used in previous drawings. Excluding those entries drawn for $10,000 prizes, all remaining entries will be included in the grand prize drawing.

Previous $10,000 monthly winners include Debra Hull of Buckhannon, David Hunley of Hurricane and Taew Smith of Lorado. Drawing rules stipulate that players may not win more than one $10,000 monthly prize; if they have entries drawn after their cash wins, they will be included in the last grand prize drawing.

While both of the top $250,000 instant prizes have been claimed, Musgrave said nearly $1.4 million remains to be claimed among tickets in the Wheel of Fortune© game at lottery retail locations statewide. They include seven $10,000 prizes, nine $5,000 prizes and 10 $1,000 prizes.