Joseph Gardner Jr. of Wilson uses inspiration from his son to pick his lucky numbers, and it paid off when a $1 Cash 5 ticket delivered a $120,000 jackpot.
“I’ve been playing a combination of my son’s birthday and the sports jersey numbers he used to wear,” Gardner said.
Gardner, 60, matched all five white balls in the Dec. 6 Cash 5 drawing to win the jackpot. He bought his lucky ticket from The Grocery Door on Nash Street Northwest in Wilson.
He said he first realized he won when he scanned his ticket at a convenience store, but he didn’t know how much until he got home and checked the numbers online.
“I was totally shocked to be frank with you,” he said. “It was a pretty good night to say the least.”
Gardner arrived at lottery headquarters Monday to collect his prize and, after required state and federal tax withholdings, took home $85,213.
He said he will use his winnings to pay some bills and do some home repairs.
Cash 5 is one of four lottery games in North Carolina where players have the option of buying their tickets through a retail location or Online Play, either through the lottery’s website or with the NC Lottery Official Mobile App. Cash 5 tickets are $1 and drawings are held every night. Tuesday’s jackpot is $598,000.
Ticket sales from draw games make it possible for the lottery to raise more than $2.5 million a day on average for education. A $15 million grant, using money raised by the lottery, helped Wilson County Schools build the Wilson Academy of Applied Technology. For more details on how money raised by the lottery made a difference in Wilson County last year, visit www.nclottery.com and click on the “Impact” section.
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Why is there not a help button of some kind so technical issues can be solved away from a congratulatory thread? CONGRATULATIONS MR. GARDNER!