North Carolina lottery player wins $200K from $5 scratch-off ticket

• Pitt County man decided to try his luck with the North Carolina Education Lottery's $5 Wheel of Fortune ticket
• The player won the first top prize for a sweet $200,000 payday
• Four more top prizes remain in play from the newly launched scratch-off

An incredibly lucky lottery player scored a six-figure prize on a $5 scratch-off ticket.

That’s the story of one Greenville, North Carolina, man, who won the top prize from a newly launched lottery game.

The player hit a top prize from the newly launched Wheel of Fortune

The winner, a Greenville resident, decided to give the $5 Wheel of Fortune ticket a try.

The game was introduced by the North Carolina Education Lottery just above a month ago, on July 3, 2026.

The Pitt County man purchased his ticket at Chill Stop Express 2 on Charles Boulevard in Greenville.

Interestingly, the fortunate player beat the odds of 1 in 1,112,016 to win the first $200,000 top prize from the Wheel of Fortune ticket.

Earlier this week, the lucky player visited the North Carolina Education Lottery headquarters to claim his newfound fortune.

After the relevant applicable state and federal taxes, the winner collected $144,000 and change.

The Greenville man didn’t share if he had plans for his newfound fortune.

In Pitt County, where the fortunate player lives, the North Carolina Education Lottery has contributed $10.7m to education programs in 2025.

Across North Carolina, the lottery operator benefits more than 100 counties, delivering invaluable funding for education programs and other social initiatives.

Many more prizes remain in play from Wheel of Fortune

After debuting early in July, the Wheel of Fortune initially offered five top prizes of $200,000 each.

Following the recent win, now, there are four top prizes remaining in play.

The $5 scratch-off also offers tier-two prizes of $10,000 each, and there are eight out of 10 of those remaining in play.

The odds of winning a tier-two prize from the Wheel of Fortune scratch-off are 1 in 556,008.

A tier-three prize from the popular ticket awards $2,000 and the odds of winning such a prize are 1 in 278,004.

There are 16 out of 20 tier-three prizes of $2,000 each remaining in play.

Within the lower prize tiers, the $5 scratch-off ticket offers a range of prizes between $500 and $5.

The overall odds of winning any prize are 1 in 4.31.

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