Lucky NC man hits $1m jackpot with perfect timing

• One 58-year-old man from Farmville in North Carolina followed his gut and scored a sweet $1m top prize
• The man admitted that "something" told him to buy the $30 MAX-A-MILLION ticket that ultimately brought him the hefty win
• The scratch-off game offers 17 top prizes of $1m each, along with a range of prizes within the lower tiers

One man from North Carolina, who had a good feeling, followed his gut and scored a life-changing prize.

The North Carolina Education Lottery confirmed that a 58-year-old Farmville man scored one of the remaining top prizes from the popular MAX-A-MILLION ticket.

"Something just told me to get that ticket"

The lucky winner purchased his ticket at the Hustle Mart located on N.C. 121 in Farmville.

Selecting the $30 scratch-off game, the man admitted that he had a good feeling and decided to follow his gut.

To his surprise and shock, that $30 scratch-off brought him a whopping $1m top prize.

In an interview for an official with the North Carolina Education Lottery, the man recalled the day he purchased the ticket saying: "Something just told me to get that ticket."

Once he won the top prize, the 58-year-old man said he was "elated" and found it really hard to believe what had just happened.

The fortunate Farmville man visited the Lottery headquarters last week to claim his big win.

"This is perfect timing in my life. We can live comfortably now," the man said of his windfall.

Not unexpectedly, considering the size of the prize, the 58-year-old man had the option to either select a lump cash sum for a portion of the prize or take home the entire $1m via annuity payments.

Similar to other lottery players, the lucky man picked the former option for a one-time lump cash sum of $600,000.

Considering that federal and states are applicable to lottery winnings, the man saw his bank account increase by nearly $431,000.

Asked if he had plans about his newfound fortune, the 58-year-old man said he intends to pay some bills and then save the rest for his retirement.

Many more prizes remain in play from the MAX-A-MILLION ticket

The Lottery's MAX-A-MILLION ticket was released on March 4, 2025.

Each $30 ticket grants players a chance to win a prize between $30 and a mouth-watering top prize of $1m.

When the ticket was first introduced earlier this year, there were a total of 25 prizes of $1m each.

After the most recent win, now, 17 top prizes are up for grabs.

The odds of winning $1m from the $30 ticket are 1 in 363,970.8.

The game also offers tier two and tier three prizes of $100,000 and $20,000, respectively.

While there are seven tier-two prizes of $100,000 each in play, the MAX-A-MILLION ticket offers 16 tier three prizes of $20,000 each.

Within the lower prize tiers, more than one million winning tickets remain in play with prizes varying between $5,000 and $30.

The overall odds of winning any prize are 1 in 2.95.

Image credit: North Carolina Education Lottery