Lottery player likes the look of a green ticket, wins $200K

A lucky lottery player in North Carolina liked the look of a green ticket and decided to try his luck.

As a result, the fortunate Broadway man won one of the top prizes from the North Carolina Education Lottery's Emerald 8s scratch-off ticket.

Green ticket brings a big win for lucky player

Late last week, the Lottery uncovered details regarding the fortunate winner, Lewis Moreland of Broadway, Lee County.

Speaking to Lottery officials, the man recalled the day he found out about the big win.

Moreland purchased the $5 lottery ticket from Kangaroo Express on North Main Street in Broadway.

Once he was back home, he decided to scratch off the ticket while in the kitchen together with his wife.

"I was just like, ‘Am I looking at this correctly. Lo and behold that’s what was there," Moreland said about the moment he realized he had just won $200,000 from the Emerald 8s scratch-off ticket.

The fortunate man added that winning one of the top prizes was "a good feeling."

Asked how he decided to buy an Emerald 8s ticket, Moreland said that it "caught" his eye.

"It was the first time buying a green ticket," he remembered.

Only recently, the lucky man visited the Lottery headquarters to claim his big win.

After the applicable state and federal taxes, Moreland's bank account grew by $143,501.

When he was asked if he had any plans regarding the big fortune, the Lee County man said that he intends to invest the win and plan his future retirement.

Two top prizes remain in play from Emerald 8s

Emerald 8s marked its debut in December 2023.

Each ticket costs $5 and grants a chance to win between $5 and $200,000.

The odds of winning a top prize of $200,000, such as the one recently won by Moreland, are 1 in 1,224,660.

While there were initially a total of six top prizes, now, only two remain in play.

Players had a chance to win a tier-two prize of $10,000 from Emerald 8s as well but none of those prizes remain in play.

On the bright side, two prizes of $2,000 with odds of 1 in 408,220 are still in play, along with many more prizes within the scratch-off game's lower prize tiers.

The odds of winning any prize from Emerald 8s are 1 in 4.20.

Image credit: North Carolina Education Lottery