North Carolina woman wins $8m from $50 scratch-off game

• A $50 scratch-off ticket turned into a life-changing $8m win for a woman in North Carolina
• The woman scored one of the top prizes from the $8 Million Money Maker game
• The winner selected to receive the full sum via annuity payments of $400,000 for 20 years

Lucky lottery player in North Carolina will be looking forward to receiving $400,000 a year for the next 20 years after scoring a top prize from a popular scratch-off game.

Earlier this week, the North Carolina Education Lottery announced that a Charlotte woman won one of the top prizes from its $8 Million Money Maker ticket.

The lucky woman will take home the entire $8m prize via annuity payments

The winner purchased her $50 ticket at BP Food Mart on West Sugar Creek Road in Charlotte.

Undoubtedly, this was the woman's lucky day, considering that she was able to beat the odds of 1 in 3m to win the top prize from the $8 Million Money Maker ticket for an $8m payday.

Earlier this week, the Charlotte woman visited the North Carolina Education Lottery headquarters to claim her big win.

Similar to other prizes of such size, the winner was given two options: to collect the full prize via annuity payments or take home a one-time lump cash sum.

With the former option, the Charlotte woman would be receiving $400,000 a year for the next 20 years, effectively collecting the entire $8m prize.

On the other hand, with the latter option, she would be looking at a one-time lump cash sum of approximately $4.8m.

Most lottery players pick the latter option as they receive a large lump sum instantly.

However, that wasn't the case for the Charlotte resident, who picked the former option.

As a result, the lucky woman collected her first annuity payment of $400,000 and she stands to receive 19 more such payments, one every year.

After the applicable taxes, the Charlotte resident's bank account increased by $287,014.

Players can win different prizes between $100 and $8m

The North Carolina Education Lottery introduced the $8 Million Money Maker scratch-off game on December 3, 2024.

Initially, the game offered five top prizes of $8m at odds of 1 in 3,042,264.

After the most recent win, now, three top prizes of $8m each remain in play.

A tier-two prize from the popular $50 game awards $100,000.

The odds of winning a tier-two prize from the $8 Million Money Maker game are 1 in 1,521,132.

When the scratch-off game was introduced, there were a total of ten prizes of $100,000, but now seven remain in play.

Within the lower prize tiers, players can win a range of prizes between $25,000 and $100.

The overall odds of winning any prize from the $50 scratch-off game are 1 in 4.14.

Image credit: North Carolina Education Lottery