Hilda Smith of Saint Pauls plans to buy a house after a $50 scratch-off ticket won her the first $250,000 prize in a new lottery game.
“I still can’t believe it,” she said. “I never thought I would win a big prize.”
Smith bought her lucky 500X The Cash ticket from Gray’s Creek BP on N.C. 87 South in Fayetteville.
She wanted to share the news right away after she discovered that she won.
“I called my husband,” Smith said. “I told him, ‘I won, I won.’”
She arrived on Friday at lottery headquarters to claim her prize and, after required state and federal tax withholdings, took home $180,039.
Smith plans on using her winnings to buy a house and take a trip to Nicaragua.
The 500X The Cash game debuted in January with five top prizes of $10 million and 10 prizes of $250,000. Five $10 million prizes and nine $250,000 prizes remain to be claimed.
The state provided $62 million in grants, using money raised by the lottery, to help Robeson County build a new career and technology high school. For details on other ways Robeson County benefits from lottery funds, visit www.nclottery.com and click on the “Impact” section.
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