RALEIGH - Jasper Wall, a retired corrections officer from Hamlet in Richmond County, has played the same lucky numbers for almost three years. On Friday night, his persistence paid off as he matched all five numbers in the Cash 5 drawing, winning the $232,246 jackpot.

“I like to play when the jackpot gets big,” Wall said. “I picked those numbers at random around three years ago. I didn’t want to change my numbers because you never know when they’ll come up.”

He learned of his win when he woke up around midnight and checked the lottery’s website.

“I couldn’t believe it,” Wall said. “I’ve been checking the numbers over and over all weekend. You always hope your numbers come up but it’s amazing when they do.”

Wall plans to use his winnings, worth $157,927 after taxes, to pay bills, travel and help his family. He purchased his winning ticket at the Hamlet Food Mart on Kings Street in Hamlet.

From March 30, 2006 through June 30, 2010, Richmond County players have won more than $14.9 million in lottery prizes and county retailers have earned more than $1.9 million in commissions on ticket sales.

During the same time period, Richmond County education programs have received more than $9.4 million in lottery funds. By law, those funds benefit teacher salaries, school construction, need-based college scholarships and prekindergarten programs.

To date, the N.C. Education Lottery has raised more than $2 billion for the education initiatives it serves statewide.