For restaurateur and Alexandria resident Alemayehu Yonas, winning the lottery once wasnt enough. 
    
After claiming $25 on a state lottery scratcher game, Yonas decided to invest the winnings into 25 Pick 4 tickets at a Baileys Crossroad 7-Eleven. He picked the same four-digit code, 3-6-2-3, on each ticket, a string of numbers he randomly drew from his winning scratcher ticket. 
    
And Yonas didnt stop there. He bought another 26 tickets, wagering $51 in total on the 3-6-2-3 combination, according to lottery officials. 
    
The numbers were against him. Officials say the chances of a perfect match are 10,000 to one. 
    
But the long odds paid off. On July 14, Yonas learned the tickets were worth $238,900. 
    
Yonas, who runs Abay Market in Falls Church, gave one winning ticket valued at $2,700 to the 7-Eleven clerk. He plans to pay for his sons college educations with the remainder of the winnings.