Woman in North Carolina scores $1m prize from a $30 scratch-off

• A Charlotte woman won one of the top prizes from the North Carolina Education Lottery’s Max-A-Million ticket
• The winner’s $30 ticket resulted in a $1m payday
• Many more prizes, including a dozen top prizes of $1m each, remain in play

An incredibly lucky woman saw a $30 scratch-off ticket bring her a life-changing million-dollar prize.

That’s the story of one Mecklenburg County, North Carolina player who scored one of the top prizes from the Max-A-Million ticket.

Winner was surprised by life-changing $1m top prize

The Charlotte woman decided to give the $30 scratch-off ticket a try.

She purchased her winning ticket at the Quik Trip on Burton Lane in Cornelius.

Interestingly, once the woman scratched off the ticket, she uncovered that she had just won one of the game’s top prizes for a sweet $1m payday.

The winner recently visited the North Carolina Education Lottery headquarters to claim her newfound fortune.

Not unexpectedly, the fortunate woman was given a chance to either collect the full $1m via annuity payments of $50,000 for 20 years, or take home a one-time lump sum of approximately $600,000.

The Charlotte woman picked the latter option after the applicable state and federal taxes, saw her bank account increase by $432,000 and change.

The winner did not reveal if she had plans for her newfound fortune.

Mecklenburg County, where the fortunate player lives, has benefited from $60m via lottery funding in 2025.

A dozen $1m prizes are up for grabs from Max-A-Million

The North Carolina Education Lottery launched the Max-A-Million ticket on March 4, 2025.

Each ticket costs $30, and it offers players a chance to win a prize between $30 and $1m.

The odds of winning the game’s top prize are 1 in 363,970.8.

Out of a total of 25 prizes of $1m each, after the most recent win, 12 remain in play.

On the other hand, a tier-two prize from the $30 ticket awards $100,000 and there are six such prizes in play.

The odds of winning a tier-two prize are 1 in 909,927.

A tier-three prize from Max-A-Million pays out $20,000 and there are 11 such prizes in play at odds of 1 in 454,963.5.

Within the lower prize tiers, between $5,000 and $30, many more prizes are up for grabs from the popular scratch-off ticket.

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

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