RALEIGH – Gaston County resident Robert Coburn plans to use the $500,000 he won playing the N.C. Education Lottery’s $500,000 Jackpot game to pay off his mortgage and add to his retirement savings. He scratched the winning ticket at home in Mount Holly on Friday.

Coburn made his lucky purchase at the Mount Holly Citgo on Tuckaseege Road in Mount Holly. He said the most he had won playing the lottery before was $5,000. He told his wife on occasion that he knew he’d win big someday.

“I told her that this was an older game and we had better chances,” Coburn said. “I knew it was coming. When I scratched the ticket I saw a dollar sign all the way on the left and my heart started beating. When I saw the “five”, a tear hit the kitchen counter. I love this game. I feel great.”

Coburn and his wife Bonnie each received a check for $170,001 after taxes were withheld. The couple also plans to use their winnings to purchase an RV to travel the country.

As of Monday afternoon, two more top prizes remain to be claimed in the $500,000 Jackpot game.

From March 30, 2006 through June 30, 2011, Gaston County players won more than $75.4 million in prizes and local retailers earned more than $9.3 million in commissions on ticket sales.

During the same time frame, Gaston County education programs received more than $44.8 million in lottery funds. By law, these funds benefit specific programs. More than $12.5 million paid for 254 teacher salaries in grades K-3; more than $11.6 million provided 3,042 prekindergarten opportunities for at-risk four year olds; and more than $3 million went to 2,752 need-based college scholarships. Gaston County officials decided how to utilize more than $17.5 million in school construction funds provided by the lottery.

To date, the N.C. Education Lottery has raised more than $2.1 billion for these initiatives statewide.