Mark Murphy of Lancaster, S.C., said a lucky feeling led him to a $1 million lottery prize.
Murphy, who works in estate sales, said his good fortune happened Friday night, when he stopped at Dueys Stop & Shop on West South Main Street in Waxhaw in Union County.
“I enjoy playing Keno,” Murphy said. “I play there on a regular basis, but I rarely buy scratch-off tickets. I don’t know what caused it, but for some reason, I just felt lucky that night.”
Before he left, Murphy bought a $10,000,000 Colossal Cash scratch-off ticket.
“I didn’t believe it at first,” Murphy said. “I started freaking out. I showed the clerk and told him, ‘I just won $1 million!’ It was wild.”
Murphy claimed his prize Monday at lottery headquarters in Raleigh. He had the choice of taking an annuity that has 20 payments of $50,000 a year or a lump sum of $600,000. He chose the lump sum. After required state and federal tax withholdings, he took home $424,509. He plans to use the money to pay his mortgage.
“I’ll be able to pay off all my debt,” Murphy said. “It’s just incredible. One day you wake up and suddenly you don’t have to worry about it anymore. It’s a life-changing experience.”
The $30 ticket launched in August with four top prizes of $10 million and 16 prizes of $1 million. Three top prizes and 11 $1 million prizes remain. Players can also enter their tickets into four second-chance drawings for a $1 million prize.
Ticket sales from games like $10,000,000 Colossal Cash help the lottery raise more than $650 million a year for education. For details on how lottery funds are making a difference in all of North Carolina’s 100 counties, click on the “Impact” section of the lottery’s website, https://www.nclottery.com.
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Congrats! Most I've won was $500 and alot of 30 40 50's but this ticket I'm holding with the money stack could be the one. Or nah NCEL I've reviewed all the other prizes on the ticket and the $30, 10,000 and 1 mil prize is missing. What's my chance of that money stack having $1 mil underneath? Lol