North Carolina: lucky man turns $5 scratch-off ticket into $200K win

Newly launched scratch-off ticket games usually attract more players as many of the top prizes remain in play.

On Monday, one fortunate player from Seven Springs, North Carolina, became the first top-prize winner from a recently launched lottery game.

The North Carolina Education Lottery confirmed in a statement that the fortunate winner's name is Jeremy Howard.

The lucky man couldn't believe his luck after turning a $5 scratch-off ticket into a sweet $200,000 payday.

Howard purchased a ticket for the Lottery's recently launched Mega Bucks scratch-off game at R-Mart on N.C. 111 North in Albertson.

To Howard's surprise, he beat the odds of 1 in 1,234,580 and won the first top prize from the scratch-off game.

The lucky winner said he couldn't believe it at first

The Lenoir County man recently visited the Lottery's headquarters to claim his six-figure prize.

Recalling the day he won the hefty prize, Howard said: "I thought it was a fake ticket at first. I couldn’t believe it."

Once at home, the lucky player said that the first thing he did was to lock the ticket in a safe.

Asked by Lottery officials how he plans to spend the unexpected windfall, the Seven Springs resident said: "I can pay off my house and my truck."

Despite payments to his vehicle and mortgage, Howard admitted to planning to "splurge a little bit" of the win.

North Carolina applies federal and state taxes to lottery winnings.

After the applicable taxes, the lucky winner collected $143,001.

Many prizes between $5 and $200,000 remain in play

The North Carolina Education Lottery's Mega Buck scratch-off game launched less than a month ago on August 30, 2024.

The $5 scratch-off ticket grants a chance for prizes between $5 and $200,000.

After the first top prize was won, eight other prizes of $200,000 each remain in play.

On the other hand, a second-tier prize of $10,000 carries the odds of 1 in 617,290.

Although there was a total of 18 such prizes at the launch of Mega Bucks, now, 16 remain in play.

A third-tier prize of $1,000 has 1 in 154,322.5 odds. Upon launch, there were 72 such prizes but as of September 23, 2024, 65 remain in play.

The overall odds of winning any prize from Mega Bucks is 1 in 4.35.

In order to play or claim a prize, players need to be 18 or older.

Image credit: North Carolina Education Lottery