Stephanie Marquez of Cary didn’t know how to react after a $30 scratch-off won her a $1 million top prize.
“I was just kind of numb,” she recalled. “I kept thinking, ‘That can’t be real.’”
Marquez bought her lucky MAX-A-MILLION ticket from Xpress Mart on North Sharon Amity Road in Charlotte. She said she normally buys the $5 and $10 scratch-offs, not the $30 tickets.
“I guess I just thought, ‘Shoot your shot,’” Marquez laughed. “That was my first time buying that one.”
When Marquez arrived at lottery headquarters Friday, she had a decision to make. She could choose to receive the prize as an annuity of $50,000 over 20 years or a lump sum of $600,000. She chose the lump sum of $600,000 and, after required state and federal tax withholdings, took home $430,508.
“This is a really good thing for us right now,” she said.
Marquez, a grandmother of two, plans to use some of her winnings to help pay for her grandchildren’s college education.
The MAX-A-MILLION game debuted in March with 25 top prizes of $1 million and 10 prizes of $100,000. Twenty-two $1 million prizes and 10 $100,000 prizes remain to be claimed.
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