Trena Nicholson of Hamlet could not contain her excitement when a $20 scratch-off delivered the first $2 million top prize in a new lottery game.
“I was jumping up and down screaming,” she said.
Nicholson bought her lucky Ruby Red 7's ticket from the Speedway on West Hamlet Avenue in Hamlet.
“I had to look at it again to make sure I was seeing it right,” she said.
Nicholson, a mother of six, started calling her kids right away to tell them she won.
“I called my daughter and was like, ‘I won, I won, I won,’” she recalled.
She said she always believed she would win big one day.
“I just had the feeling,” Nicholson said. “I told them it would happen.”
When Nicholson arrived at lottery headquarters Thursday, she had a decision to make. She could choose to receive her prize as an annuity of $100,000 over 20 years or a lump sum of $1.2 million. She chose the lump sum of $1.2 million and, after required tax withholdings, took home $861,006.
She plans to share her winnings with her children and pay bills.
The Ruby Red 7's game debuted this month with three $2 million top prizes and nine $100,000 prizes. Two $2 million prizes and seven $100,000 prizes remain to be claimed.
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