Chelsea Carter of Ocean Isle Beach felt all the emotions Friday when her win of a $626,543 jackpot in the Monopoly digital instants game finally started to feel real.
“This is insane,” said Carter, who cleans houses for a living. “I’ve cried, I’ve laughed, it’s surreal.”
Carter won the “Grand Fortune” jackpot Wednesday on a $10 play in the Monopoly digital instant game featuring a progressive jackpot that can be won at any time. She was playing around 2 a.m. when she hit the jackpot. It was something Carter, nor her husband, could believe at first.
“I was in shock,” Carter said, “I started shaking my husband telling him to wake up. I go ‘I just won $626,000,’ and he laughed and closed his eyes.”
She claimed her prize Friday on her 40th birthday at lottery headquarters. After required federal and state tax withholdings, she took home $449,548.
“This the best birthday present ever,” Carter said. “I want to turn 40 every year if this is going to happen.”
Carter plans on investing the money and buying land. She also wants to use the money as a safety net for her three kids.
“It’s a blessing,” Carter said. “Every day people can win something like this, and we did.”
In the Monopoly digital instant game, a player can play from 50 cents to $30. After Carter won the Grand Fortune, it restarted at $150,000 and grew to over $390,000 as of Monday afternoon.
The odds of winning the Grand Fortune on a $10 play are 1 in 5 million.
Digital instant games are played exclusively online on the lottery’s website or on the NC Lottery Official Mobile App. Fifty-four different games are available to play online now.
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