RALEIGH – Bradley and Diane Junell of Cary said that the $1 million prize they won playing the new $10 MONOPOLY scratch-off game will make things easier for them and their family.

The Junell’s good luck came when Bradley scratched the ticket outside of Dolphins on Commons Hill Drive in Cary, where he purchased the lucky ticket.

“I was sitting there scratching it and I saw the number match,” he said. “Then all I could think was ‘Oh boy.’ It was a great feeling.”

Bradley left the ticket underneath his wife’s pillow to surprise her.

“When I saw the ticket I had to look at it over and over,” Diane said. “I could feel my heart coming through my throat. Honestly, I’m just waiting for someone to pinch me and wake me up.”

Rather than claim the $1 million prize in annuity payments of $50,000 a year for 20 years, the Junell’s chose the $600,000 cash option. The after-tax value of their prize totaled $408,003. As of Monday afternoon, four top prizes remain to be claimed in the $10 MONOPOLY game.

The $10 MONOPOLY game is part of a suite of games that launched on March 26. All four games, priced at $1, $2, $5 and $10, are eligible for monthly second-chance drawings featuring cash prizes up to $10,000. Every entry is also automatically applied towards a MONOPOLY Super Entry. The MONOPOLY Super Entry Drawing will feature a $1 million prize. A “super entry” consists of a non-winning ticket entry from each of the four new MONOPOLY games. On-line entry forms and additional information can be found at www.lucke-zone.com.

Since the lottery began through June 30, 2012, Wake County education programs received more than $189.4 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.