Players win 45 prizes up to $1 million this week

Five players won $150,000 or more this week, including two who came to lottery headquarters to cash in $1 million-winning lottery tickets - including the first in the new Million Dollar Fever game.

James Varnedore of Roanoke Rapids bought his Fever ticket at the New Dixie Mart in his hometown. There are four more top prizes in the game out there.

The other $1 million winner is James McCall, a retiree from Wilmington. He tried his luck on an Extreme Millions ticket he bought at Porter's Neck Country Store on Market Street. All four top prizes of $10 million and 14 prizes of $1 million remain to be claimed.

A craving for a chocolatey snack brought Jeffrey Benfield of Lexington $400,000 worth of good fortune. Benfield stopped by the T & T Convenience on South N. C. 150 and bought the wafer bars along with some scratch-off tickets. While enjoying the snack on bench outside the store, he scratched off The Big $5 Ticket. He could hardly believe his luck when he realized he won the top prize. One top prize is still in the game.

Dewayne Chasten of Magnolia bought a lucky Red Hot Slots ticket at the Express Mart on Mallard Street in Kenansville, making him the game's first top prize winner of $200,000. Three more players could win the top prize.

Samuel Swanson of Lenoir said a love of solving puzzles led him to a $150,000 win. Swanson’s good luck happened when he stopped by the Scotchman Store on Hickory Boulevard in Hudson and bought a Silver & Gold Crossword scratch-off ticket. Swanson patiently scratched it and discovered he won the top prize of $150,000. Two top prizes remain.

Two players won $75,000. Bertin Piedra of Marion won playing Loteria and it was an All American Bucks ticket that landed Edgar Macedo of Bunnlevel his prize.

Five players from central North Carolina won $50,000 in the July 29 Powerball drawing. The winners got their lucky ticket at the Handy Mart on Edwards Road in Princeton, a small town in Johnston County. Looking forward to Saturday's Powerball drawing the jackpot stands tall at $356 million.

A $25,000 winner from the Aug. 4 Mega Millions drawing claimed her winnings this week. Doris Faircloth of Winston-Salem bought her lucky Megaplier ticket at the Circle K on U.S. 64 West in Lexington. Heading into the weekend the Mega Millions jackpot weighs in at $393 million.

Speaking of jackpots, someone who played Cash 5 in Sanford won $1,184,357 - the second-largest jackpot ever won by a single ticket. It was sold at the Circle K on Hawkins Avenue. The biggest single-ticket win the game's history came two months ago when 17 family members from the Hickory area claimed the $1.7 million jackpot they won in the June 3 drawing.

Bhartiben Amin of Asheville won $20,000 on an Ultimate Millions ticket she purchased at the BJ's Food Mart on Michigan Avenue.

Eleven players won $10,000 instantly:

- Bradley Beasley of High Point (Red Hot Slots)
- Alicia Campbell of Fayetteville (Million Dollar Fever)
- Michael Chilson of Winston-Salem ($200 Million Blowout)
- Emma Clements of Weddington (Red Hot Slots)
- Tommy Deville of Clayton (Million Dollar Fever)
- John Hinton of Winterville (20X The Cash)
- Minh Le of Jamestown (Million Dollar Fever)
- Charles Mobley of Charlotte (Millionaire Bucks)
- Darnell Ore of Williamston (Carolina Millions)
- Kirby Shipman of Zirconia (Million Dollar Fever)
- Cynthia Thompson of McLeansville ($200 Million Blowout)

Patricia Carr of Charlotte won the top prize of $7,000 on a Lucky 7's ticket. There are still 13 more top prizes in the game that began in March.

Twenty-three prizes of $5,000 were awarded. Two each went to winners from Charlotte, Concord, Morganton, and Raleigh. The other 15 went to players from: Durham, Belmont, Clayton, Dunn, Goldsboro, Graham, Hoffman, Jamestown, Mooresville, Newton, Sanford, Waxhaw, Whiteville, Wilmington, and Zebulon.

It was a big week of lottery luck. We hope your weekend is a fun and safe one, maybe even a lucky one.