NC woman unwraps $150K lottery prize from Christmas present

• A grandmother from North Carolina bought lottery tickets for family members for Christmas
• One of her grandchildren scratched off the Peppermint Payout ticket she received and was surprised by a $150,000 prize
• One top prize of $150,000 remains in play, as well as two prizes of $10,000 and many more within the lower prize tiers

An Apex woman will have her grandmother to thank for after a scratch-off ticket gifted for Christmas brought her a life-enhancing six-figure prize.

Earlier in the week, the North Carolina Education Lottery announced that one of the top prizes from its new holiday game, Peppermint Payout, was won.

Ticket gifted for Christmas turns out to be $150K winner

The grandmother purchased the $5 scratch-off ticket from Han-Dee Hugo’s on Jenks Road in Apex.

The woman bought lottery tickets to everyone for Christmas, and one of those tickets brought a sweet $150,000 prize.

The granddaughter who scratched off the winning ticket was incredibly excited.

"I was with like 20 or 30 family members so it was a little chaotic," she said when discussing the topic with an official from the North Carolina Education Lottery.

The lucky woman admitted that her grandmother bought lottery tickets for everyone for Christmas and they were together when the winning ticket was scratched off.

Recalling the moment of the $150,000 win, the Apex woman said that her grandmother was weeping tears of joy. "She loved it," the winner said about her grandmother.

Earlier this week, the lucky Wake County woman visited the Lottery headquarters to collect the big win.

After the applicable state and federal taxes, her bank account increased by nearly $108,000.

Asked about her plans for the unexpected windfall, the Apex woman said she will first fix her car and then save the rest of the winnings.

A range of prizes remain in play from the Peppermint Payout ticket

Released on November 4, 2025, the Peppermint Payout scratch-off ticket grants players a chance to win a prize between $5 and a top win of $150,000.

The cost per ticket is $5 and the overall odds of winning any prize are 1 in 4.07.

After the most recent $150,000 top prize win, now, only one such prize remains in play from the Peppermint Payout ticket. With that in mind, the odds of winning $150,000 from the $5 ticket are 1 in 1,353,300.

A tier two prize awards $10,000 and the odds of winning such a prize are 1 in 676,650. There are two out of six prizes of $10,000 up for grabs.

On the other hand, a tier three prize from the $5 scratch-off awards $1,000 and there are 40 such prizes in play.

Within the lower prize tiers, many more prizes between $500 and $5 are up for grabs from the Peppermint Payout game.

Image credit: North Carolina Education Lottery