Two and a half years after a $200,000 lottery win, Israel Carbajal of Pender County found out luck can strike twice when he won another $100,000 prize.
He turned $5 into $200,000 after playing the $500 Frenzy scratch-off game in July of 2017.
Last week, Carbajal stopped at Yaya’s Mini Mart located on N.C. 210 in Currie for a bottle of water after work and a $25 scratch-off ticket.
Carbajal had to look at his Extreme Cash scratcher three or four times to make sure what he saw was really a $100,000 win.
“When I scratched it,” he said, “I saw the number and I thought it was $100, but it was a lot more. It was $100,000, yep!”
Carbajal claimed his $100,000 prize at lottery headquarters on Tuesday. After required state and federal tax withholdings, he took home $70,757.
He says he will use the money to take care of his father’s medical expenses and upgrade his six-year-old car for a newer Honda.
The Extreme Cash game started in March 2020 with three $1 million top prizes and 10 $100,000 prizes. Two $1 million prizes and nine $100,000 prizes remain to be won.
Ticket sales from scratch-off games 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.
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