A tradition of giving Christmas scratch-offs to his family led Ray Abbott of Raleigh to a $1 million second-chance win.
“I always buy Christmas tickets and put them in their stockings,” he said.
Abbott then got a second chance with his 2025 holiday scratch-offs by scanning them into his lottery account where he was automatically entered into the Feb. 4 Merry Million Second Chance drawing. He found out he won the grand prize when he got a notification from the lottery.
“This is wild,” Abbott said. “My wife is at home freaking out.”
In addition to the $1 million top prize, the drawing had two prizes of $25,000 and 10 $5,000 winners. There were more than 35 million total entries in the drawing.
“It’s just unbelievable,” Abbott said. “I’m still in shock right now. This is crazy.”
When Abbott arrived at lottery headquarters Friday, he had a decision to make. He could choose to receive the prize as an annuity of $50,000 over 20 years or a lump sum of $600,000. He chose the lump sum of $600,000 and, after required state and federal tax withholdings, took home $432,060.
He plans to use his winnings to pay bills, save for retirement, and take a vacation with his family.
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