RALEIGH – A Kannapolis man is the most recent N.C. Education Lottery player to win $1 million instantly. Paul Curry scratched off the prize playing a $4,000,000 Gold Bullion scratch-off ticket he purchased at the Jiffy Quik on Sloop Avenue in Kannapolis.

Rather than claim the $1 million prize in annuity payments of $50,000 a year for 20 years, Curry chose the $600,000 cash option. The after-tax value of the prize totaled $408,006.

Curry is the second player to win $1 million playing the game, beating odds of 1 in 1.1 million. As of Tuesday morning, five $1 million prizes and two $4 million prizes remain to be claimed.

Since the lottery began through June 30, 2012, Cabarrus County education programs received more than $49.7 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 need-based college scholarships and financial aid.

To date, the lottery has raised more than $2.6 billion for these initiatives statewide.