Gary Thomas of Sanford rang in the new year Thursday by collecting a Cash 5 jackpot of $496,217.
Thomas purchased his lucky ticket using Online Play. His ticket matched all five numbers in the Dec. 1 drawing, hitting the nearly half-a-million-dollar jackpot. The odds of matching numbers on all five balls are 1 in 962,598.
He claimed his prize at lottery headquarters Thursday and, after required federal and state tax withholdings, took home $356,036.
Cash 5 is one of six lottery games in North Carolina where players have the option of buying their tickets at a retail location or with Online Play through the lottery’s website or the NC Lottery Official Mobile App. Friday’s jackpot stands at $110,000.
For details on how $4.6 million raised by the lottery made a difference for Lee County education programs last year, visit our "Education" page under "Impact" on www.nclottery.com