RALEIGH – On Friday morning, Brad Simmons heard about a new instant scratch-off game called $4,000,000 Gold Bullion. Ten minutes later he stopped at the PC Mart on The Plaza in Charlotte to try his luck with the game - and won $100,000 instantly.

"It was a very surreal moment," Simmons said as he collected his prize money at lottery headquarters on Tuesday. He said he was still considering plans for his $68,006 in after-tax winnings.

Simmons, a retail manager, said he decided to play the game because the overall odds of winning are approximately 1 in 3.01. He beat odds of 1 in 1 million to win $100,000.

The $4,000,000 Gold Bullion game started Feb. 12 with three top prizes of $4 million and seven prizes of $1 million. Players who win the game’s top prize have the option of claiming it as a 20-year annuity or a lump sum option that can be claimed in either cash or gold bullion.

Along with draw games, sales of instant tickets make it possible for the N.C. Education Lottery to raise money to benefit specific education programs in all 100 state counties.

Since the lottery began through June 30, 2012, Mecklenburg County education programs received more than $210.9 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 $2.6 billion for these initiatives statewide.