The NC Education Lottery has, on August 18, unveiled two winners of seven-figure prizes. One of them won their prize from a scratch-off ticket, while the other scooped up theirs from Powerball.
Charlotte Woman Won $1M from Scratcher
The aforementioned scratch-off winner was revealed to be Stephenie Cunningham of Charlotte, who decided to try out the lottery’s Max-A-Million game, only to turn her $30 ticket into a $1 million payout.
According to the official announcement, the lucky ticket was purchased from the Quik Trip on Burton Lane in Cornelius.
The NC Education Lottery said that Cunningham visited the lottery HQ this Monday, opting to choose the lump sum of $600,000, rather than the annuity option of $50,000 over 20 years. After required state and federal tax withholdings, the woman took home $432,068.
At launch, the Max-A-Million game featured 25 top prizes of $1 million. As of the time of the lottery’s announcement, 12 of these had yet to be claimed. For reference, the odds of winning a top prize are 1 in 363,970.
Powerball Minted Another Millionaire
In the meantime, the lottery announced George Boston of Warrenton as the winner of a $1 million Powerball prize. The lottery explained that the man had just returned from a trip to New York when he realized that a win in his home city had happened and that he was, in fact, the winner.
When I came back, I heard that there was a winner in Warrenton. I looked at my ticket on the table and went, ‘Oh wow, I got a match.’
George Boston
Boston tried to call his family to share the good news, but no one picked up their phones. When his daughter finally called him back, he excitedly revealed that he was a winner.
Boston’s $2 ticket was bought from Tobacco Plus on East Macon Street in Warrenton. The man beat odds of 1 in 11.6 million to win the life-changing sum.
The NC Education Lottery said that, after required federal and state tax withholdings, the man took home $720,101.
In addition to the two winners of seven-figure prizes, the NC Education Lottery announced that a Craven County man called Robert Bascom-Cohane won $100,000 from a Powerball ticket. A Johnston County man by the name of Shyheem McNeil, on the other hand, won a $250,000 top prize from a $5 20X The Cash scratch-off ticket.