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news blog > article

Catawba County man finds lucky penny, wins $250,000 top prize

February 4, 2021 Posted by NC Lottery at 12:04 PM
image-photo

A stop for gas led Christopher Wray of Maiden to a lucky penny and the first $250,000 top prize in the new 20X The Cash game.

“I was actually stopping to get gas,” he recalled. “I went in to go use the facilities, and on the way in I found a penny, heads up, on the ground. And I was like, ‘Hey! Find a penny, pick it up, all day long you’ll have good luck, right?’”

On the way out, the new February scratch-off tickets caught his eye.

“I was like well, I guess now that I have a penny I have to use it!” laughed Wray. “And I thought, well these are new, let’s grab one of these. And the first one, pop. I’m looking at it like, this can’t be right.”

He claimed his prize Wednesday at lottery headquarters in Raleigh and, after required federal and state tax withholdings, took home $176,876

“I still don’t feel like I really get it,” he said. “It’s surreal.”

Wray purchased his winning $5 ticket at the Quik Trip on North Chester Street in Gastonia.

The 20X The Cash game launched this month with 10 top prizes of $250,000. Nine top prizes remain to be won.


12 COMMENTS

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10/02/2023 08:50 - maxwell l.

i always wonder what year that penny was from so i can feel inspected with good luck when i find one

2/06/2021 07:09 - Debra B.

Any chance you will bring back the scratch-offs that taxes are paid on top prize winners ? Always great to see winners get the amount on the scratch-off instead of loosing so much to taxes. Takes a lot of luck to win a top prize and then only to pay back so much in taxes. NC Lottery
Hi Debra, we don't have plans to release a "Taxes Paid" scratch-off in the immediate future, but our Game Development team is always exploring new options. They also read this blog and appreciate hearing what games our players like the most!

2/06/2021 06:16 - Matthew K.

Great story Christopher! God is good!

2/06/2021 01:04 - shirley b.

NCEL if you would just repeat a trip like you do these low pay out numbers you just might give more people a reason to play.NC Lottery
Hi Shirley, we love it when popular numbers are drawn and players win lots of money because it makes players happy. However, we have strict rules in place to ensure that every set of numbers, regardless of popularity, has exactly the same chance of being drawn in every drawing. Our drawings are independent events, meaning the results of previous drawings have no bearing on the results of future drawings. A particular combination could have been drawn yesterday, last month, or last year, and the odds of it being drawn again today would still be 1 in 1,000. We hope your favorite number hits soon!

2/05/2021 08:01 - Debra B.

Feel your pain Billy ! Ive entered every 2nd chance drawing probably for 5 years now and Im still waiting for a win ! Hopefully our day is coming !

2/05/2021 07:56 - donna b.

dont feel bad i had 24,840 entries and i didnt win either in the christmas one

2/05/2021 04:12 - Billy S.

Second chance drawings!!!!! What in earth do you have to do to win???? I had 16474 in the Christmas drawing and win absolutely nothing!! I don’t know why I keep trying, it sucks to see that people from other states win when you have tried and tried to win!NC Lottery
Hi Billy, sorry you didn't win this time. Some of the Second Chance drawings receive millions of entries, so it takes a lot of luck. Hopefully you have some good luck soon!

2/05/2021 10:41 - richard h.

no news on "second chance" drawings, could you post results?NC Lottery
Hi Richard, we're glad you are excited about the Second Chance drawings. We have notified the winners of the drawings that took place on Feb. 3, but we can't announce all the names until they have accepted their prizes. The names will be added to the Winners section of each drawing as they accept their prizes.

2/05/2021 10:35 - Gloria C.

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

2/05/2021 07:28 - benjamin c.

how come where i live at never win big in hertford ncNC Lottery
Hi Benjamin, thanks for the question. Typically we will see more winners coming from highly populated areas because more people are playing the lottery there. However, the odds of winning are the same no matter where you are located. There have been some big winners by the coast recently, including a $25,811 Fast Play jackpot in Chocowinity yesterday. Good luck!

2/05/2021 05:21 - Yolonda S.

Congratulations Mr. Wray!

2/04/2021 12:44 - Sherry E.

Why does it seem like there are not a lot of Charlotte area winners? Seems like all the winners of scratch off tickets are in surrounding areas of Charlotte.NC Lottery
Hi Sherry, thanks for submitting your question. We actually have a ton of winners coming from the Charlotte area. Here's a link to a recent winner story: https://nclottery.com/NewsBlogDetails/2021/1/25/Lincoln-County-woman-strikes-gold-with-250000-prize.

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