Kenneth Hertzog of Concord said picking his own set of numbers scored him a Cash 5 jackpot to the tune of $138,292.
Hertzog, a rebar worker, was grocery shopping at the Publix on Weddington Road in Concord when he decided to purchase a few Cash 5 tickets.
A few days later, he discovered he was a big winner in Wednesday’s drawing right before walking into the dentist’s office to get a crown finished.
“We pulled into the parking lot and my wife asked if I had the lottery ticket,” recalled Hertzog. “She said, ‘I think we might have won $250.’ And I said, ‘Why can’t we win the big one?’”
As luck would have it, they did.
“I pulled it up and looked at it, and I said, ‘We got all the numbers. We got all five!’” he recalled.
He claimed his prize Friday at lottery headquarters in Raleigh. After federal and state tax withholdings, Hertzog took home $97,842.
Hertzog and his wife, Tina, recently decided to relocate to Florida to be closer to Hertzog’s mother. “This will actually help us move so we can be near her,” said Hertzog. “It couldn’t have come at a better time.”
Cash 5 is a statewide draw game that gives players the chance to win a jackpot every single night. Tickets cost $1 and players can buy tickets at most lottery retailers, through Online Play on the lottery’s website, or on the NC Lottery Official Mobile app.
Monday’s Cash 5 jackpot is $166,000.
Ticket sales from draw games like Cash 5 make it possible for the lottery to raise more than $700 million a year for education. For details on how $14.5 million raised by the lottery made a difference in Cabarrus County last year, visit www.nclottery.com and click on the “Impact” section.