RALEIGH - Steve Wilson of Mount Holly checked the numbers on his Powerball ticket every way possible before finally being convinced that he was holding a winning ticket for last night’s drawing. He says first he saw the numbers scroll across his television screen during the news; then he read the numbers printed in his morning newspaper; and finally he logged onto to the North Carolina Education Lottery (NCEL) Web site to make sure there wasn’t a mistake.
It wasn’t a mistake—Wilson’s ticket matched all five white balls and was worth $600,000! The normal payout for this combination is $200,000, but Wilson says he always Power Plays. That additional dollar earned him an extra $400,000 since the multiplier for last night’s drawing was 3.
Wilson says he will invest his winnings, as well as use some to pay off his truck and buy his wife a new car. He purchased his winning ticket at Brittain’s Food Mart on Hickory Grove Road in Gastonia.
Thomas Bosquet of Cary plays Powerball, too, but his lucky game this week was “$250,000 Cash Bonanza.” Bosquet says he had never bought an instant scratch-off ticket before but on a whim he decided to buy one. His ticket revealed the top prize of $250,000!
Bosquet plans to share the money with his family and use some of it to travel. He purchased his winning ticket at the Highway 49 Neighborhood Store in Burlington.
Wilma Peterson of Hubert nearly ran out the battery on her cell phone as she traveled to Raleigh yesterday to claim her “Carolina Cash 5” prize. She was calling all of her friends and family to tell them of her $150,687 win.
Peterson purchased a quick pick (computer generated) “Carolina Cash 5” ticket for the July 29 drawing at Cedar Point Grill on Cedar Point Boulevard in Cedar Point. The ticket matched all five white balls drawn to win the top prize.
Peterson, a retired school cafeteria worker, says she will use some of the prize money to pay for an already planned vacation. She added that the money will be helpful in her retirement and will go toward paying her bills and mortgage.
In addition to Wilson’s $600,000 Powerball win, four tickets in last night’s Powerball drawing matched four out of five white balls plus the Powerball. The normal payout for this combination is $10,000, but one ticket was Power Played and is worth $30,000 since the Power Play multiplier was 3. This ticket was sold at B & G Gas on Rennert Road in Shannon.
The other three tickets were not Power Played and are worth $10,000 each. These tickets were sold at One Stop #5 at Old Highway 64 and Ecusta Road in Pisgah Forest, Cedar Village Family fare on Weaver Dairy Road in Chapel Hill, and Ruschco Food Stores #7 on North Highway 29 in Rowan.
A total of 39,102 North Carolina Powerball players won prizes in the Wednesday, July 30, Powerball drawing, ranging from $600,000 down to $3 for a total payout in prizes worth $949,740. No one matched all five white balls and the Powerball, so the jackpot for the Saturday, August 2, drawing is an estimated $87 million.
The NCEL has paid out more than $2.6 million total in instant scratch-off ticket prizes since Monday, July 28. Also since Monday, “Carolina Cash 5” players have won more than $244,000 and “Carolina Pick 3” players have won more than $845,000 in prizes.
