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James Todd of Clarkton said he plans to buy his dream home after he won a $200,000 BIG SPIN prize.
“I’m not sure what the home will look like yet,” Todd said. “I never thought I’d be in a position to do this. Right now, my dream is just to have something in my name.”
The auto mechanic’s good fortune started when he stopped at the Sun-Do Kwik Shop on Elizabethtown Road in Lumberton on his way to work. While there, he tried his luck and bought a $5 The BIG SPIN scratch-off ticket.
“I thought I was looking at a fake ticket,” Todd said. “I didn’t believe it until I took it to the claim center to have them check it.”
Once he realized what he won, he immediately called his mother to share the good news.
“I told her, ‘Mom. I’m freaking out right now. I just won a ton of money,’” Todd said. “I wasn’t expecting this.”
Todd, accompanied by his mother, spun the BIG SPIN prize wheel Tuesday during a live event in Raleigh. Todd said he already knew how he was going to spin the wheel before he came in.
”I’m going to give the wheel a pretty decent spin and hope for the best,” Todd said.
An excited crowd cheered Todd on as he stepped up to the wheel, grabbed the side, and gave it a spin. When the wheel stopped on $200,000 a burst of confetti flew through the air and he celebrated by giving his mother a big hug.
“This feels good,” Todd said. “Really good.”
After required state and federal tax withholdings, Todd took home $141,763.
The BIG SPIN scratch-off ticket launched in October. The $5 game has three levels of play. Players can win a cash prize instantly, or get directed to a website where they can spin a digital wheel and win a cash prize or a BIG SPIN. If they win a BIG SPIN prize, they get the chance to spin the BIG SPIN prize wheel during a live event and win up to $500,000.
Ticket sales from games like The BIG SPIN make it possible for the lottery to raise more than $700 million a year for education. For details on how lottery funds have made a difference in all of North Carolina’s 100 counties, click on the “Impact” section of the lottery’s website.
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