Raymond Vail Jr. of Alexander will plan a family cruise after his Cash 5 ticket netted a $100,000 jackpot win.

Vail purchased his jackpot winning ticket at Fastrac Food Mart on Old Leicester Highway in Asheville.
He headed home to check the winning numbers on the lottery’s website, and saw his ticket matched all five numbers in Thursday’s drawing.

“Holy smokes, I just won $100,000,” Vail told himself.

Vail says he plays once or twice a week, usually at the same store.

“It doesn’t feel real,” Vail said.

Vail claimed his prize Tuesday at lottery headquarters in Raleigh. After required federal and state tax withholdings, he took home $71,752.

The odds of winning a cash 5 jackpot are 1 in 962,598.

In addition to sending his family on a cruise vacation, Vail plans to use his winnings to pay some bills and finish building a new pool.

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. Thursday’s jackpot is $229,000.

For details on how $10.9 million raised by the lottery made a difference for education programs in Buncombe County last year, visit www.nclottery.com and click on the “Impact” section.