Richard Daveler's 2012 is off to a great big start. The maintenance supervisor from Pikeville scratched off a $1 million prize playing Cash Spectacular, making him the biggest winner of the week - and the biggest instant winner in Wayne County history.
“I scratched off the first one and it was a thousand bucks,” Daveler said. “The cashier thought I was joking. Then I scratched the big one and he really thought I was messing with him.”
Players from Franklin and Orange Counties split the $425,108 Cash 5 jackpot on New Year's Eve. Evelyn Perry, a retired social worker from Hillsborough, plans to use her winnings to pay bills and share with her children. Willie Tabron, a retired construction worker from Louisburg, plans to share with his family, saying his real luck in life is his wife of 60 years and their children.
Shenita Massey, a nursing assistant from Mount Holly in Gaston County, plans to help pay for college for her children and her niece after winning $150,000 playing the $150 Grand game. “Keep the faith, keep believing,” Massey said as she received her winnings. “It really can happen.”
Bhavinaben Rajeshbhai Patel, a homemaker from Winston-Salem, is the latest player to claim the $100,000 top prize in the Wheel of Fortune game. Patel said she plans to use a portion of her winnings to donate to charity. As of Friday morning, one more $100,000 top prize remains to be claimed in the game.
North Carolina players won more than $13 million on instant tickets since last week's update. Five prizes of $10,000 went to players from Canton, Charlotte, Hampstead, Hendersonville and Richlands. Players from Durham and Winston-Salem won $20,000 each playing Carolina Gold. A Money Bag Crossword ticket spelled "$30,000" for a pair of players from Mooresville. And two $50,000 prizes were awarded this week: one to a Cary player on Juinor Big Ol' Bucks, and another to a Charlotte player who won playing Jumbo Bucks.
So there's a look at this week's biggest winners. We wish you the best of luck North Carolina, and see you next week here in the Lucke-Zone.
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