William Tomlinson, a landscaper from Raleigh, says he’ll buy a new house with the $100,000 he won playing Mega Bucks.
Tomlinson stopped at the New Bern Avenue Exxon on New Bern Avenue in Raleigh and bought four of the $5 tickets. He scratched the first three in the parking lot and won a total of $15. When he scratched the fourth, he didn’t expect much.
“I thought it would be $2,” Tomlinson said.
But when he looked at his ticket again he realized it was much more: $100,000.
Tomlinson claimed his prize Monday at lottery headquarters in Raleigh. After required state and federal tax withholdings he received $69,251.
Ticket sales from games like Mega Bucks made it possible for the lottery to raise more than half a billion dollars for the state last year. For details on how more than $330.9 million in lottery funds has made a difference in Wake County, click on the “For Education” section of the lottery’s website.