Ray Walker of Gastonia could not help but scream after his $1 Cash 5 ticket won him a $1 million jackpot.
“I hollered and jumped up and down,” he recalled. “I let out a big old yell.”
Walker said he checked his ticket just after midnight on Wednesday morning.
“I had to wet my face a little bit to make sure I wasn’t dreaming,” he laughed.
Walker bought his lucky Quick Pick ticket for Tuesday’s drawing from Kingsway on East Ozark Avenue in Gastonia. The odds of matching all five balls are 1 in 962,598.
“I only slept an hour last night,” Walker said. “I’m numb.”
The $1,022,795 jackpot won by Walker became the first Cash 5 jackpot exceeding $1 million since August 2024. He claimed his prize Wednesday at lottery headquarters in Raleigh. After required federal and state tax withholdings, he took home $733,856.
“This couldn’t have come at a better time,” Walker said.
He plans to put his winnings in the bank and maybe visit family down in Florida.
Cash 5 is one of six lottery games in North Carolina where players have the option of buying tickets at a retail location or with Online Play through the lottery’s website or the NC Lottery Official Mobile App. Thursday’s jackpot is $110,000.
The N.C. Education Lottery’s Play Smart™ program helps North Carolinians make the most of their lottery play. Visit ncplaysmart.com to learn about all things lottery, from tips on how odds work to how to enter bonus drawings.
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