Stephen Hinson of Asheville took a chance on a $10 Fast Play ticket and won a $496,995 jackpot.
Hinson bought his lucky Big Bucks Bingo ticket at Sav-Mor on Patton Avenue in Asheville on Jan. 2. He arrived Monday to collect his prize and, after required state and federal tax withholdings, took home $354,112.
The Fast Play rolling jackpot grows with every ticket purchased. When Hinson made his purchase, it had just reached $496,995. Because he bought a $10 ticket, he won 100 percent of the jackpot.
On Monday afternoon, the Fast Play jackpot was $68,000 and growing. The odds of winning a Fast Play jackpot are 1 in 320,000.
Ticket sales from lottery games like Fast Play make it possible for the lottery to raise more than $2.5 million a day on average for education. For details on how $11.7 million raised by the lottery made a difference in Buncombe County last year, visit www.nclottery.com and click on the “Impact” section.