‘Lightning struck twice’ as Pitt County man wins $200,000, his second big lottery win

February 8, 2024 Posted by NC Lottery at 1:58 PM

Christopher Mills of Winterville celebrated his second major lottery prize Wednesday when he won $200,000 in a second-chance drawing.

Mills previously won $100,000 in December of 2021 on a Winter Winnings scratch-off.

“I can’t believe lightning struck twice,” he said.

Mills found out that he won the grand prize in Wednesday’s 2023 Multiply the Cash Second Chance drawing when he got an email notification from the lottery. There were more than 47 million entries in the drawing.

“I was shocked when I got the email but I was overjoyed,” Mills said.

He arrived on Wednesday to collect his prize and, after required state and federal tax withholdings, took home $143,000.

Mills has twin sons who recently graduated with master of business administration degrees from Campbell University. He plans to use his win to help his sons finish paying for their education.

Players got a second chance with their Multiply the Cash tickets by scanning the tickets into their lottery accounts where they were automatically entered into the drawing. Mills won the top prize in the fourth and final 2023 Multiply the Cash Second Chance drawing.

21 COMMENTS

2/27/2024 12:22 - Lisa J.

When and how are the alternate winners selected and notified?NC Lottery
Hi, Lisa! When a drawing is conducted, the Random Number Generator (RNG) not only randomly selects the winning entries, but also a list of alternate winners, just in case one of the original winners does not claim their prize. Winners have 30 days from the date of notification to claim their prize, and we'll reach out via email, phone call, and a certified letter through the mail in that time to help them claim before the 30-day deadline. If a winner does not claim after 30 days, we move on to contacting an alternate winner, first via email, and then phone and a letter through the mail if we don't hear back, and they also have 30 days to claim. This process continues until a winner claims their prize!

2/22/2024 01:48 - James R.

61 prizes for 47 million entries? Hmmmmm ummm

2/09/2024 11:53 - James R.

@AdamR you may have won still. It just says winners notified- they can notify you by mail, phone, email etc. I am still somewhat hopeful- I have 233 entries for about a 1:17,929 chance. Your chance for this draw is about 1:79.76 :)

2/09/2024 11:16 - James R.

I have 26008 entries in this drawing alone... So something like a 1:1800 chance to win grand prize... Congratulations, winners! I Hope I'm next! I think they should stop funding schools and put that money back into sweepstakes! Let parents fund schools lol

2/09/2024 02:03 - Douglas H.

It really is a look of the draw. We won on a couple second chance winning prizes over the years, and in one particular win we actually had one single entry. don’t let it discourage you from playing anyone can win keep the faith you might be the next one :-)

2/09/2024 10:43 - Kelli P.

Congratulations!! I hope good fortune shines on me soon ??

2/09/2024 10:16 - joanie m.

Congratulations and congratulations to all those second chance winners there were over 7 winners in Salisbury NC on the hoilday second chance and multiple the cash Wow

2/09/2024 09:32 - Denise U.

SOMEONE IS TELLING HIM WHAT TOWN AND STORE THE TICKETS ARE IN. GO TO THAT STORE AND JUST KEEP BUYING THE TICKETS. YOU OR SOMEONE FROM THAT TOWN WILL WIN. THE LOTTERY HAS TO KEEP TRACK OF WHERE THEY PLACED THE WINNING TICKETS.NC Lottery
Hi, Denise! The lottery doesn't know where winning tickets are distributed. During the secure printing process, winning tickets are printed at random throughout the entire printing run of each game. Then they're divided up into packs and the inventory is stored securely before being distributed to retailers by the lottery's sales staff. Where a winning ticket might show up is a complete mystery until a lucky player scratches one off and comes in to claim!

2/09/2024 08:17 - Angela A.

@NCEL what is the maximum deposit amount daily? I know because I just had the Digital Instants make me reach it, but I want to hear it from you? This is very bad to play that much money and not have a decent WIN amount @NCEL!NC Lottery
Hi, Angela! The daily deposit limit is $505, the weekly limit is $2,000, and the monthly limit is $5,000.

2/09/2024 07:01 - Christopher A.

Lol such a scam

2/09/2024 05:39 - Amy G.

Congratulations!

2/09/2024 04:11 - Brian T.

NCEL you've always focused on fairness to players. Wouldn't it be more fair to only allow one entry per player account for lucke rewards and second drawings?

2/08/2024 10:45 - Seantice W.

Awesome!! Congratulations????

2/08/2024 10:19 - Vivian p.

Congratulations Christopher. Enjoy your Winnings

2/08/2024 08:05 - Kelli P.

Congratulations!!! I hope soon Good Luck shines on me ??

2/08/2024 06:45 - Jamal C.

Congratulations to the winner . playing smart is the key!

2/08/2024 06:07 - Jennifer S.

In 3 of the drawings, I had over 1,000 entries per drawing. I felt as though I would win something, for sure. I didn't realize my 1100 entries and my 1300 entries were actually nothing. Now, I don't feel nearly as encouraged.

2/08/2024 05:41 - Porfirio D.

I had over 60,000 entries into second chances and not even a $500 price came my way. starting to feel this is all rigged.

2/08/2024 03:01 - Charles H.

It's not fair, it's simply not fair.

2/08/2024 02:56 - Adam R.

I can't believe I spent 59,825 points for 2,393 entries into the "digital instants 100 days of free games" rewards drawing and was not selected for 1 of 30 prizes lol. Geeze how many entries could there have beenNC Lottery
We're sorry to hear that, Adam! We received around 4,177,515 entries into our Digital Instants 100 Days of Free Games Lucke-Rewards drawing - so it certainly took a lot of luck to be a lucky winner!

2/08/2024 02:48 - Cynthia A.

Congratulations! Lightning struck twice is amazing! I just need a little cloud.

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‘Lightning struck twice’ as Pitt County man wins $200,000, his second big lottery win

February 8, 2024 Posted by NC Lottery at 1:58 PM