RALEIGH – Robert C. Smith, a line foreman for the City of Laurinburg, said that he plans to buy a beach house after winning $750,000 playing the lottery. Smith, who lives in Gibson, is a native of the Laurinburg area who has worked for the city for 28 years.

Smith stopped on Tuesday at Rob’s Convenience store on North Caldonia Road in Laurinburg. There, he bought a 20X the Money ticket and a Jumbo Bucks ticket for $10 each.

“I actually won $100 on the 20X the Money,” Smith recalled. When he scratched off the $750,000 prize amount on the Jumbo Bucks ticket, Smith was stunned. “I’ve hit $1,000 several times, but I never dreamed I’d hit this much,” he said. “It was a shock.”

Smith said that when he called his wife Peggy to share the good news she didn’t believe him at first. By Tuesday afternoon, however, the Smiths had made the trip to lottery headquarters in Raleigh to collect the prize money. After state and federal taxes were withheld, Smith received a check for $510,003.

Besides being excited about the prospect of getting beach property, Smith said he planned to talk to a CPA immediately. “This is life-changing money right here,” he said. “I want to do this right.”

Since the lottery began through June 30, 2011, Scotland County education programs received more than $10.6 million in lottery funds. By law, those funds pay for teachers’ salaries in grades K-3, school construction, prekindergarten programs for at-risk four-year-olds, and college scholarships and financial aid based on need.

To date, the N.C. Education Lottery has raised more than $2.45 billion for these initiatives statewide.