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Charlotte woman wins $1 million scratch-off prize

August 18, 2026 Posted by NC Lottery at 11:31 AM
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Stephenie Cunningham of Charlotte took a chance on a $30 Max-A-Million ticket and won a $1 million top prize.

She bought her lucky ticket from the Quik Trip on Burton Lane in Cornelius.

Cunningham arrived at lottery headquarters Monday to claim the prize. When she arrived, she had a choice 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 $432,068.

Max-A-Million debuted in March 2025 with 25 $1 million prizes. Twelve remain to be claimed. The odds of winning the $1 million prize are 1 in 363,970.

Education programs in Mecklenburg County received $60 million in support from lottery funds last year. For details on how lottery funds have made a difference in all of North Carolina’s 100 counties, click on the “Impact” section of the lottery’s website.


3 COMMENTS

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8/24/2026 09:56 - william j.

I'm confused about something, but first I have to say no one makes me play I'm just trying to win, but how is it I just bought the last seven of these back to back..# 23 24 25 26 27 28 29..not one dime won, lost it all...according to the odds that is not supposed to happen...not fair in my eyes, nc lottery stop lying about the oddsNC Lottery
Hi William - in a draw game, picking consecutive numbers does not change the odds. Numbers are drawn completely at random, and every unique combination has an independent chance of being pulled.

8/18/2026 01:03 - Brian T.

Rah rah to the winner

8/18/2026 12:02 - John M.

Wow, Congratulations Stephenie Cunningham, that really was some "chance!" Hard to believe 13 $1M prizes have been dispersed at an almost $1M per month rate.

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