Big prizes, trips and jackpots just in time for holidays

Just in time for the holidays, lottery players across North Carolina won big prizes this week, ranging from once-in-a-lifetime experiences to a $1million instant win. 

And if you’re feeling lucky this holiday season, both the Powerball and Mega Millions games are sporting some nice numbers. Saturday’s Powerball jackpot just broke the $200 million mark, weighing in an estimated $202 million as an annuity and $125.9 million as a lump sum. That’s the largest jackpot since September. Tonight’s Mega Millions jackpot is an estimated $85 million annuity or $52.2 million as a lump sum.

The biggest win this week went to Harvey Lawson of Kings Mountain in Cleveland County who now will be able to take a trip of a lifetime. Like many players, Lawson decided to try his luck while stopping for gas. He said when his $10 Millionaire 7’s ticket turned into a $1 million winner he “almost fell under the truck.” He said he and his fiancé will take their dream trip to Australia. Safe travels, Harvey.

What do you do if you can’t believe you finally won a Carolina Cash 5 jackpot? “I turned off my computer and restarted,” said Anthony Robinson of Morrisville. “I was just like, ‘Wow.’” No. Anthony wasn’t seeing things. His Quick Pick ticket won him $281,905 in the Dec. 9 drawing.

Some good luck produced “a nice birthday and Christmas gift” for Doneezha Davis-Ruffin, a retirement specialist from Charlotte. The win occurred when Davis-Ruffin used $20 from a present she received from mother to play the new $500 Cash game. She became the first person to win the $150,000 top prize in the game. The game includes the popular “Back Scratch’ feature that adds additional playing space to the ticket.

Over in Western North Carolina, Arthur Myers of Black Mountain collected a $50,000 win from the Dec. 5 Powerball drawing. And Mario Martinez of Mineral, Va., collected one of the $25,000 prizes in the Gold 7’s game while on a visit to North Carolina.

Some of the players who enjoy the Pick 3 game had a good week with prizes. Between Dec. 11 and Dec. 17, drawings in the game produced $3.1 million in prizes, including $992,000 in the Thursday afternoon drawing when the numbers 2-1-3 were drawn.

 Two drawings occurred this week with prizes that included once-in-a-lifetime experiences. Six North Carolinians won trips to Las Vegas for a chance to compete for $1 million next month on the MONOPOLY MILLIONAIRES’ CLUB™ TV game show.Four others won trips to Chicago in April for a Warehouse Dash where they will get 90 seconds to fill a cart with all the electronics and housewares they can grab. Drawings in January and February will select six more winners for the trip. The winners’ have all been notified and their names will be posted as soon as possible.

And we round out the list of big winners with seven folks who won $10,000 with scratch-off games. They were:

• Clarence Rice of Fayetteville, Millionaire 7’s.
• Sheila Robinson of Monroe, King’s Ransom.
• Mary Willis of Casar, 5X The Cash.
• Jaime Turnage of Dover, $200 Million Blowout.
• Odette Pinske of Boone, Platinum 7’s.
• Robert McNatt of Fayetteville, $200 Million Blowout.
• Jesse Minor of Burlington, Diamonds and Dollars.
  

Good luck and Happy Holidays.