Best winner stories: Top 12 of 2012

On average, players win about $2.6 million in prizes a day. But sometimes the winners' stories are anything but ordinary. As the calendar year comes to a close, we look back at 2012’s most unique and interesting tales of North Carolina Education Lottery winners:

#12 - Beaufort retiree reels in $10,000 prize at seafood festival: James Fudesco got “the catch of the day.” After buying $10 in lottery tickets at our booth, the Beaufort retiree scratched off a $10,000 prize playing the “$2,500 a Week for Life!” game. Fudesco said he was “very, very excited” when he realized he won and plans to use his prize money to have a new roof installed.

#11 - A lucky winner from a town with a lucky name: Some might consider Laurie Gray of Horseshoe, North Carolina the luckiest person in all of Henderson County. She scratched off $1 million playing the Red Hot Millions game, and said she saw a connection between her good luck and the lottery’s mission. “I have two girls in college,” Gray said. “So I feel good knowing that the lottery money is going to education and scholarships.”

#10 - Durham bank teller makes $100,000 lottery deposit: For years, Tanicia Garris cashed and deposited the checks of lottery winners. “It’s surreal to finally have a big check of my own,” Garris said the day she claimed her $100,000 Mega Bucks prize. “I’ve always wondered if it would happen to me, and today I get to stand on the other side of the counter.”

#9 - Co-worker’s dream leads to $1 million Powerball win: Brenda Crisp of Burlington told us how it all started: “A guy I work with told me he had a dream I won the lottery,” she explained. After hearing her co-worker's premonition, Crisp decided to try her luck in the next Powerball drawing - and won $1 million. “It was a shock to win,” she said. “I was really surprised about it.”

#8 - Group of 20 lottery players win $1 million Powerball prize: “Each payday we play five dollars worth of tickets,” said Tonya Scales, the group’s spokesperson. Another group member, Dixie Cassell, reached Scales by telephone to say she thought they’d won a prize. “I went online and saw all five numbers light up yellow,” Scales recalled. “I said ‘We won a million dollars.’”

#7 - Pick 4 players win record $7.5 million payout: When the combination 1-1-1-1 was drawn on the evening of Saturday, Aug. 11, Pick 4 players won the largest payout in the game's history: $7.5 million. Pick 4 players at the Raleigh claim center lined up for their prize money on Monday morning. “I won $2500,” said one lucky winner.” I’m so grateful. This came right on time.”

#6 - Lottery winner of Hollywood trip spins and wins Vegas vacation: In a second chance drawing, Renee Lail of Shelby won a trip to Hollywood to play a lottery players-only non-broadcast version of the Wheel of Fortune game. The highlight of Lail’s trip was solving a prize puzzle to win a trip to Las Vegas. In all, she spun and solved her way to $12,200 in cash and prizes, including the trip.

#5 - Lucky Cash 5 ticket goes from billfold to lockbox to $118,180 check: For more than two weeks, Wade Haskett of Waynesville carried around in his wallet a lottery ticket worth $118,180. Haskett discovered he was the winner after his wife told him that someone bought a winning ticket in Waynesville, but had not claimed the prize. “I didn’t really expect to win anything,” said Haskett.

#4 - Cash 5 winner surprises wife with $661,409 jackpot: Dale Strickland of Ocean Isle Beach hit the jackpot - but kept it a secret from his wife Beth for several days until he asked her to walk to the beach with him. There, Dale then showed her a picture of his winning ticket on his smartphone. “It was very exciting,” Beth recalled. The couple planned to take a trip to Hawaii.

#3 - Father and son win $1 million in historic Powerball drawing: Les Rouse and his son Christopher, who work together on their family farm, didn't win the half-a-billion dollar jackpot in the Nov. 28 Powerball drawing. They did, however, win $1 million - on Christopher's first-ever Powerball ticket. Take a look at this short YouTube video of the Lenoir County residents describing how they found out they won, and what they plan to do with their prize money.

#2 - Gaston County retiree wins second Cash 5 jackpot: Here is an excerpt from the Roanoke Rapids Daily Herald: “Retiree Quient Joyner, of Gaston, said he considers himself to be a pretty lucky man. At the age of 77, he has eight children, 17 grandchildren, 11 great-grandchildren and he has won the lottery — twice.” Joyner won $50,000 in the Aug. 6 drawing and $73,822 back in Jan. 2008.

#1 - Raleigh woman wins $4 million ‘Cash Blowout’ prize: For Camelia McClain, a 39-year-old native of Raleigh, a week that began with disappointment ended with her collecting $4 million. She was coming to terms with her position of 22 years as a receptionist being eliminated. Just two days later, she scratched off the top prize on a $4,000,000 Cash Blowout ticket. “I’ve always heard if it’s meant for you, it’s meant for you,” McClain said. “It’s still unbelievable.”

If you're still hungry for more stories of good fortune, check out the Top 11 of 2011. Best wishes to you and yours this holiday season.