Top 10 Cash 5 Claims of 2011

Just a few months into the year, Carolina Cash 5 players from across the state have already won a lot. Here's a look at the ten largest wins that Cash 5 players have claimed so far in 2011:

#10 Going back to last year: Michael Fields of Fletcher (Henderson County) had one of four tickets that split a $519,608 prize in the Dec. 20 drawing. He claimed his $129,902 share in February. "Cash 5 is a great game," he said as he held his check for the first time. "You really can win it."

#9 Lucky in Rocky Mount: Becky Joyner made the list by winning on a hunch. The homemaker from Rocky Mount (Nash County) played an extra quick pick ticket because the date was 1/1/11… and she won $163,927 (if this list had gone to #11, another Rocky Mount winner, Jeffrey Glover, would have been listed - he won $104,294 in the Feb. 19 drawing).

#8 That coffee must have tasted good: Carl Murdock of Walkertown (Forsyth County) woke up to find out he won $177,680 in the Jan. 16 drawing. His wife discovered the ticket was a winner the night before. She wrote the prize amount he won on the ticket and left it next to the coffee maker for him to find in the morning.

#7 Cash 5 winner on cloud nine: “I started crying and yelled out ‘I won the lottery!’” said David Duncan, a retiree from Shelby (Cleveland County). “I’m on cloud nine. I’ve dreamed of this for years. This feels just like winning The Masters or the World Series. This is my Super Bowl.” Duncan won $198,150 in the Sept. 24, 2010 drawing but waited until January of this year to claim it.

#6 Prize money to pay off the mortgage: Brent Grigg, a machinist from Gastonia, said he was going to pay off the mortgage after winning $285,065 in the Jan. 6 drawing. “I just feel weak at the knees,” Grigg said as he held his check. “It’s real. I can do what I’ve always wanted.”

#5 Windfall in Windsor: James Cherry's Cash 5 ticket won half of the top prize in the March 18 drawing - $290,146. The maintenance supply parts manager from Windsor (Bertie County) said "I don't feel rich, but this is a nice start." We think $197,299 after taxes is a great start!

#4 String of wins leads to big win: Daniel Bell of Mooresville (Iredell County) told us he had won prizes on five straight occasions before finding a lucky penny "heads up" the day before he won $321,259 in the Feb. 6 drawing. He also said that the winning numbers he quick picked included his birthday and birth month.

#3 'Surreal' win in Salisbury: Lloyd Pullen of Salisbury (Rowan County) checks in at #3 with a $366,158 win in the March 29 drawing. He said that no matter how many times he checked his ticket, it seemed 'surreal.' Like many players, he also said he was still in a state of disbelief when he came to lottery HQ to claim his prize.

#2 'Times Turn Around' Fast: Michael Holliday of Stokesdale (Guilford County) won $455,193 on a ticket he bought at a store called Times Turn Around in Stokesdale. Holliday said he called his accountant within hours of realizing he won to save for retirement.

#1 Jumping up and down: The top Cash 5 winner of 2011 so far is Jerry Hudson, a salesman from Cherryville (Gaston County). He won $532,550 in the Jan. 27 drawing. “I looked at the winning numbers on the screen and thought ‘Who would play numbers like that?’,” Hudson said. “Then I looked at my numbers and started jumping up and down.”

Other big Cash 5 winners who've claimed so far this year include: Kecia Parker of Dunn (Harnett); John Williams of Greenville (Pitt); Thomas Scott of Chapel Hill (Orange); Ralph Blackburn of Kernersville (Forsyth); Anthony Ellis of Greenville (Pitt); Richard Johnson of Littleton (Halifax); Billy Tarlton of Asheboro (Randolph); Miriam Rodriguez of Cameron (Harnett); Gary Smith of Durham; Steve Niklawski of Raleigh; Shelia Howie of Charlotte; and Oscar Coello of Raleigh.

Winning Carolina Cash 5 numbers are drawn every night at approximately 11:22pm. Best of luck to everyone!