$1 million winner: 'North Carolina is my lucky state'

Samanthan Williams is the biggest winner of the week. After visiting family in North Carolina, on her way home to McCall, she stopped at Nic's Pic Kwik in Laurinburg and bought an Extreme Millions ticket. “I told my son we needed to stop by the store because I felt lucky,” Williams said. She was right. When she scratched the $30 ticket, she won $1 million. “I held the ticket for at least five minutes and started screaming and crying,” Williams said. “I couldn’t believe it, and had my son check it. I told him, ‘Take the ticket and tell me if it’s real.’”

Three Cash 5 players who won shares of big Cash 5 jackpots claimed their prizes this week. Thomasina Smith-Ross of Cameron won $492,553 in Tuesday's drawing. She bought a $1 Quick Pick ticket at the J Cash Mart on Carthage Street in her hometown. An Asheville man won the same amount on a Quick Pick. He bought his winning ticket at the Southeast Energy on Airport Road in Arden. And Deborah chandler of Winston-Salem collected her $355,141 share of a jackpot worth more than $1 million in the Jan. 12 drawing.

An Elizabeth City man who scratched off a $200,000 prize on a Mega Fortune ticket says he'll pay off his mortgage. Nicholas Stainback, who works for the U.S. Coast Guard, bought his winning ticket at the Han-Dee Hugo on Halstead Boulevard in Elizabeth City.

Mary Gallaher of Lexington the top prize of $75,000 playing Loteria. There is one more top prize still in the game.

Two players collected $50,000 prizes. Charlie Roberson of Hillsborough won in the Jan. 21 Powerball drawing. Latanula Hinton of Raleigh won playing Carolina Millions.

Seven players won $10,000 instantly:

- Arthur Cornielle of Concord ($4,000,000 Platinum Payout)
- Tommy Lee of Beulaville (Holiday Riches)
- Brenda Lee of Charlotte ($400,000 Bonus Cash)
- David Morris of Rocky Point (Loteria)
- Tenique Peck of High Point (10X The Cash)
- Tina Poynter of Fayetteville (Platinum 7's)
- Robert Womack of Monroe ($4,000,000 Platinum Payout)

There were 20 prizes of $5,000 awarded. Two of them are from Charlotte and two others are from Lexington. The 16 other winners are from Apex, Bolivia, Greensboro, Greenville, Havelock, Kernersville, Lenoir, Lillington, Raleigh, Rock Hill S.C., Rose Hill, Southern Pines, Wadesboro, Wagram, Washington, and Westfield.

Thanks for reading. Until next time, have a fun and safe weekend.