Every night, Tom and Laurie Carr of Raleigh have at least one ticket in the Carolina Cash 5 drawing. After two family members in New York won the top prize in the New York Lottery’s Take Five game, the couple hoped to continue the family tradition in North Carolina.

On Saturday, Feb. 25, the Carr family luck struck again. The Carrs were watching the Cash 5 drawing live and the numbers called out by the draw show host sounded familiar. So Tom Carr froze the TV screen when the recap with all five numbers, 3-4-14-18-29, came on.

“Just because of the look on her face,” said Tom Carr, “I asked, ‘How many numbers do we have?’ And she said, ‘We have them all.’”

They then stayed up to 2 a.m. on Sunday morning, checking the lottery’s website to see if anyone else had won. With the only winning ticket, the couple claimed the $794,997 jackpot, taking home $552,532 after tax withholdings.

“It was my turn,” said Laurie Carr whose brother and sister had won in New York.

Carr, one of the mangers at Lowes Food on Louisburg Road in Raleigh, said the big win came after a small win on an instant game. He decided to use a $5 instant win to buy five $1 Quick Picks in their favorite game. He bought the Cash 5 tickets from an associate at the store while on break, as required by the company’s “No Play On Duty” policy.

The two will celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary in June.

“We started our planning, but we are going to revise that plan,” said Tom Carr. “We like to cruise, so we will find a nice cruise somewhere.”

The couple said they also plan to buy a new house, a new car, and share some of their winnings with family.

Ticket sales from games like Cash 5 made it possible for the lottery to raise more than $634 million for the state last year. For details on how lottery funds have made a difference in Wake County, click on the “For Education” section of the lottery’s website.