Frances Pressley of Southmont had to drive back to the store to double-check her $3 Powerball ticket after she found out she won a $100,000 prize.
“The girl at the store told me, ‘You did it,’” Pressley recalled. “I was shaking as I walked back to my car.”
Pressley bought her lucky Quick Pick ticket for Monday’s drawing from Southmont Grocery on N.C. 8 in Lexington. She matched the numbers on four white balls and the red Powerball to win $50,000. Because she bought a Power Play ticket, her prize doubled to $100,000 when the 2X multiplier hit.
“I’m really tickled over it,” she said.
As soon as Pressley got back home, she went right to her husband.
“I told him, ‘We’ve got good news,’” Pressley recalled. “We really needed it.”
She arrived at lottery headquarters on Tuesday to claim her winnings and, after required federal and state tax withholdings, took home $71,501.
She plans to pay some bills and do some work around her house.
Wednesday’s Powerball jackpot stands at a $69 million annuity or $32.2 million in cash. The odds of winning a Powerball jackpot are 1 in 292 million.
Powerball is one of six draw games in North Carolina where players have the option of buying their tickets at a retail location or with Online Play through the lottery’s website or the NC Lottery Official Mobile App.
Play Smart, Gift Smart is the N.C. Education Lottery's annual campaign highlighting the risks of youth gambling. The campaign raises awareness that popular holiday scratch-offs should only be gifted to adults. In this year’s campaign, North Carolinians can donate school supplies at a lottery claim center, support a good cause, and get a chance to win a prize. Visit NCEL Play Smart for more information.
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