Melanie Melendez of Charlotte immediately picked up the phone to share her exciting news after she won $404,917 playing a digital instant game.
“I called my daughter right away,” she said. “I started hollering on the phone.”
Melendez played a $5 ticket on Nov. 16 and won the top level ‘Epic jackpot’ in the Wheel of Bonuses game, a digital instant game featuring a progressive jackpot that can be won at any time. The odds of that win are 1 in 6.2 million.
“It was spinning and I was just thinking to myself, ‘Wouldn’t it be crazy if I won,’” she recalled. “You just never know when it can happen.”
Melendez claimed her prize Tuesday at lottery headquarters and, after required federal and state tax withholdings, took home $289,518.
She plans to give some money to her church, pay bills and invest.
In the Wheel of Bonuses digital instant game, a player can play from 50 cents to $30. After Melendez won the jackpot, it restarted at $50,000 and has grown to over $154,000 as of Wednesday morning.
Digital instant games are played exclusively online on the lottery’s website or on the NC Lottery Official Mobile App. Thirty-three different games are available to play online now.
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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