Debra Denton of Wilmington said she won a $289,503 Cash 5 jackpot while helping her friend.
“My friend doesn’t have a car,” Denton said. “I usually drive her to get groceries or run other errands.”
That’s exactly what Denton was doing Saturday afternoon when her friend suggested they get some scratch-off tickets for a mutual friend. They stopped at the Mj Pit Stop on Carolina Beach Road in Wilmington. While there, Denton bought a Quick Pick Cash 5 ticket for herself. The next morning she found out she won the jackpot.
“I couldn’t believe it,” Denton said. “When I checked the numbers I was like, ‘Okay, I matched the first one, and the last one, and, wait a minute, I matched all of them!’”
She took the ticket back to the store just to make sure.
“When I scanned it and it said go to lottery headquarters, I knew I wasn’t seeing things,” Denton said. “I’m still in disbelief. I just feel so blessed.”
She claimed her prize Monday at lottery headquarters in Raleigh. After required state and federal tax withholdings, she took home $204,824. She plans to use some of the money to pay off her mortgage. Her ticket beat odds of one in 962,598 to win the jackpot.
Cash 5 is a statewide draw game that gives players the chance to win a jackpot every single night. Tickets cost $1 and players can buy tickets at most lottery retailers or through Online Play on the lottery’s website. The jackpot for tonight’s drawing is $110,000.
Ticket sales from draw games like Cash 5 make it possible for the lottery to raise more than $700 million a year for education. For details on how lottery funds have helped 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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