Gaston County man wins $100,000 scratch-off prize

January 2, 2021 Posted by NC Lottery at 9:47 AM

A family tradition of playing scratch-off tickets during the holidays delivered a gift of $100,000 to Joshua Brackett of Stanley.

Brackett, a plumber, said he and his mother and brother were sitting around the kitchen table with scratch-off tickets he purchased at the Kingsway on Chapel Grove School Road. There, they discovered that one of Brackett’s two $20 Holiday Countdown tickets had a $100,000 prize.

“I just picked my mom up and hugged her,” said Brackett. “That’s all I could do at that time.”

He claimed his prize Thursday at lottery headquarters in Raleigh. After federal and state tax withholdings, he took home $70,756.

“This is a boost for me,” Brackett said. “I’m happy and overjoyed.”

He said he planned to buy a new truck and then save the rest as he awaits the birth of a son in February.

The Holiday Countdown game started in November. All $1 million and $100,000 prizes have now been claimed and the lottery has started the process to end the game.

Holiday Countdown tickets as well as any Holiday Luck tickets can be entered into a second-chance drawing with the chance to win a $150,000 prize. In addition to the $150,000 prize, the drawing will also award five prizes of $10,000 and 50 prizes of $500. The deadline to enter tickets into the next drawing is Sunday, Jan. 31, and the drawing is scheduled for Wednesday, Feb. 3.

18 COMMENTS

1/05/2021 05:59 - shirley b.

Since NCEL has so many repeats let's see you repeat a trip three times in one month. That would be great!!!!

1/04/2021 11:51 - Jeremiah U.

I am a convenience store clerk at the moment and I started looking at customers dead in the eyes when printing off progressive tickets after the first or second day of them releasing. It was exciting and new of course, but at first I really only looked to gain insight and knowledge to help and assist future customers. Read the back of the lottery play slips and tickets. It is YOUR responsibility to make sure there are no errors. Not the store clerks. Push the right buttons, print the ticket, hand it over, YOU check it. We can dispute if you were given the right ticket later via audio/video. ;)

1/04/2021 09:03 - elizabeth j.

Congratulations.

1/04/2021 08:58 - Kristi S.

Congratulations on your winnings!!!

1/04/2021 08:41 - douglas b.

I’m having trouble finding the Holiday Luck X 50 in the Charlotte area..every retail store I visit has ran out.NC Lottery
Hi Douglas, this game is almost sold out. Some retailers might still have a few left, but all of our tickets have been distributed to stores and they cannot order any more. We should be announcing the end date and claim deadline soon.

1/04/2021 05:51 - Berry B.

I see the WINNING tickets are back in the piedmont region,CONGRATS!!

1/04/2021 07:46 - Tom a.

Where was the $25000 a week Lucky for Life ticket sold last weekNC Lottery
Hi Tom, that ticket was purchased online.

1/03/2021 11:05 - Dawn S.

Congratulations. Good luck to everyone especially people who reside in Cabarrus county because from what I see all the winning tickets are up towards Durham Winston-Salem and Raleigh. Never seen a lot of winners around here for Mega Powerball or Lucky for life especially the Jackpot 7's. Dawn

1/03/2021 03:08 - Mary H.

Congratulations :)

1/03/2021 09:27 - michael b.

I would purchase the tickets out of the machine so only you can see them just saying

1/03/2021 02:42 - Angela D.

Congratulations??....Prayers please ?? ? ?? I have 15 k in entries i need prayer ?? ?

1/02/2021 08:49 - Charles B.

I also hate that the folks look at your progressive 777 tickets before they hand it to you because it takes the thrill away before you look at it. It's like thank you for buying the ticket but you lost. It's the same way if you get a cash 5 and add one dollar for an EZ match. They say you didn't win the ez match but good luck on the drawing (shaking my head)

1/02/2021 07:55 - Gloria C.

Congratulations to you and I wish you many more wonderful wins.

1/02/2021 04:12 - Allen M.

ditto on what margaret g. said. i see the same thing and it truly irks me. on the jackpot 7's you can quickly see if the ticket's a winner, whereas on the others it takes time to look and match. i don't think it's necessarily a security issue, but a potential one. i'm not calling about a potential one, so what are other options to fix this? NC Lottery
Hi Allen, the lottery has checks and balances in place to ensure the safety of all our games. Thank you for voicing your concern.

1/02/2021 04:09 - Sheila I.

@ncel. I meant I haven't seen any progressive winners posted lately.

1/02/2021 03:26 - greg s.

an easy suggestion to ncel. make all fast play tickets where the game has to be played or scanned not looked at with a glance to see if it is a winner. also as a customer I only make purchases where I trust the people I am giving my hard earned money to.

1/02/2021 11:39 - Margaret G.

I buy the fast progressive $10.00 jackpot tickets. Every time I go into Lowe’s Food I usually purchase 3 of them and not ONE time but every time when they print the person stands there and look every one of my tickets up and down. This is not just one person they all do it. Yesterday I asked the person to please not look my tickets over but once they print please just hand them to me. She answered, we have to look to make sure there are no mistakes. This was Lowe’s food on 42 where I play everyday. I should be the first to know what I won and not store clerks. I wish this could be addressed that once tickets print they are to be handed to customer and not to look over tickets. NC Lottery
Hi Margaret, the retailer should always hand the ticket immediately to the player. If you see something that looks suspicious happening at a store, please call our Security Hotline at 1 888-732-6235 to report what happened. Thank you

1/02/2021 11:27 - Sheila I.

@ncel. I've noticed no one is winning in the Fast Progressive games. Am I missing something or have you not updated this blog yet? Thanks NC Lottery
Hi Sheila, we've had tons of Fast Play winners since we launched the game in September. Here's the latest story, but you read more on our blog https://nclottery.com/NewsBlogDetails/2020/12/7/Fast-Play-delivers-19th-jackpot-win

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Gaston County man wins $100,000 scratch-off prize

January 2, 2021 Posted by NC Lottery at 9:47 AM

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