RALEIGH - “Carolina Cash 5” has been on a roll, with top prizes reaching more than $575,000 in the past month. Three lucky players from Currituck, Brunswick and Union counties claimed their top prizes of over $100,000 each this week.
Michael Williams of Leland bought a quick-pick (computer generated) ticket for the July 3 “Carolina Cash 5” drawing. The next day when he went to a local retailer to get the winning numbers, he says he was in disbelief when the ticket matched all five white balls and was worth $152,225.
Williams plans to pay bills and take a vacation to Florida with his prize money. He purchased his winning ticket at the Village Stop and Shop on Vance Street in Wilmington.
Rufus Jones of Grandy says he usually picks his own numbers when playing “Carolina Cash 5” but for the July 7 drawing he decided to get a quick-pick ticket. That paid off when his ticket matched all five white balls to win the $140,605 top prize!
Jones also plans to use some of his prize money to pay bills and go to Florida. He says he’d like to take his family to Walt Disney World. Jones purchased his winning ticket at The Border Station on Caratoke Highway in Moyock.
Elmar Bready, a schoolteacher from Waxhaw, bought a “Carolina Cash 5” ticket for the June 29 drawing and won $106,977 when his ticket matched all five white balls. He says it is a surreal feeling to win the top prize.
Bready plans to give some of his prize money to the nonprofit Doctors Without Borders. He also plans to invest some of the money and perhaps add a porch to his house. Bready purchased his winning ticket at Duey’s Stop and Shop #4 on West South Main Street in Waxhaw.
A “Carolina Cash 5” ticket worth $575,372 remains unclaimed. The ticket is from the June 4 “Carolina Cash 5” drawing and was sold at The Border Station on Caratoke Highway in Moyock. The numbers for that drawing are 2 - 3 - 6 - 7 - 38.
In last night’s Powerball drawing, one ticket matched all five white balls and is worth $200,000. The ticket was sold at Wilco #304 on Lawndale Avenue in Greensboro.
A total of 32,419 North Carolina Powerball players won prizes in the Wednesday, July 9, Powerball drawing, ranging from $200,000 down to $3 for a total payout in prizes worth $494,510. No one matched all five white balls and the Powerball, so the jackpot for the Saturday, July 13, drawing is an estimated $25 million.
The North Carolina Education Lottery (NCEL) has paid out more than $3.7 million total in instant scratch-off ticket prizes since Monday, July 7. Also since Monday, “Carolina Cash 5” players have won more than $231,000 and “Carolina Pick 3” players have won nearly $717,000 in prizes.
