RALEIGH - Samuel Crisp of Winston-Salem says he and his wife always try to have at least one Powerball ticket for each drawing and they always Power Play. Nearly a month after his tickets matched all five white balls on the June 14 drawing he realized that their routine paid off earning them a prize of $800,000!
Crisp bought the ticket at the Kangaroo Express on Hickory Tree Road in Winston-Salem and let the computer pick his numbers. His wife asked him to check some of their recent tickets so he went to the North Carolina Education Lottery (NCEL) website and it was then that he realized they were holding a ticket worth $800,000.
Crisp, who recently retired, says he will invest the money. He added that he never thought he would win, but thought of his weekly Powerball ticket purchase as his contribution to education in North Carolina.
Another big winner said, “Now I can really do some fishing!” That was Kenneth Atkins reaction today after collecting his prize for his winning Double Cash Blowout ticket worth $200,000. The Willow Springs man leaned over and his kissed his wife when he got his check. He bought the winning instant scratch-off ticket at the Main Street Exxon on North Main Street in Fuquay-Varina.
Three tickets in the Saturday, July 19, Powerball drawing matched four out of five white balls plus the Powerball. Two of those tickets are worth $10,000 each, but one is worth $30,000 because that ticket was Power Played and the Power Play multiplier for the drawing was a three. The $30,000 winning ticket was purchased at Main St. Mini Mart on Main Street in Hookerton. The two tickets worth $10,000 each were purchased at Kroger #366 on North Point Drive in Durham and Quik Check #10 on Zoo Parkway in Asheboro.
A total of 36,867 North Carolina Powerball players won prizes in the Saturday Powerball drawing, ranging from $30,000 down to $3 for a total payout in prizes worth $318,347. No one matched all five white balls and the Powerball, so the jackpot for the Wednesday, July 23, drawing is an estimated $54 million.
The NCEL has paid out more than $4 million total in instant scratch-off ticket prizes since Thursday, July 17. Also since Thursday, “Carolina Cash 5” players have won more than $147,857 and “Carolina Pick 3” players have won more than $496,180 in prizes.
