RALEIGH - The first time Christopher Jones of North Wilkesboro Power Played his Powerball ticket, it paid off! Jones’ ticket for the Sept. 13 Powerball drawing matched all five white balls drawn. The normal payout is $200,000, but since Jones Power Played and the multiplier was 2 it increased his winnings to $400,000!
Jones says he will use some of the money during an already planned trip this fall. The rest he plans to save. Jones purchased his winning ticket at Holiday To Go #9 on Connelly Springs Road in Lenoir.
In addition to Jones’ $400,000 Powerball win, there were two other tickets in the Saturday, Sept. 13, Powerball drawing that matched all five white balls drawn. Each ticket is worth $200,000. The tickets were sold at R & A Mini Mart on South East Boulevard in Clinton and Kroger #355 on Six Forks Road in Raleigh.
Janean Smith, Luther Winfield III, Foster Vestal Jr. and Marcus Smith, all of Raleigh, and Ronald Smith of Wake Forest, bought a Powerball ticket together for the Sept. 10 drawing. Their ticket matched all five white balls to win $200,000. When they received their checks at the North Carolina Education Lottery (NCEL) headquarters, it inspired one to break into song and others to start dancing.
The group of five has been playing Powerball together for about a year. They bought their winning Powerball ticket at Kmart #3442 on Capital Boulevard in Raleigh. Among their plans for the winnings are investing the money and donating it to good causes.
Add Lancaster of Pikeville bought a ticket for the Sept. 13 “Carolina Cash 5” drawing and saw the next day that two tickets won the top prize. He says he said to his wife, “Why can’t I win?” and then checked his ticket later that day by calling the NCEL’s Player Hotline. That’s when he found out that he had won. His ticket was one of two that matched all five white balls drawn and was worth $129,268!
Lancaster says he plans to use the money to buy a car with better gas mileage. He purchased his winning ticket at Smokers Express #925 on North Berkley Boulevard in Goldsboro.
In addition to Lancaster’s winning ticket, another ticket in the Sept. 13 “Carolina Cash 5” drawing matched all five white balls and is worth $129,268. The tickets were sold at Ellis Avenue Food Mart on North Ellis Avenue in Dunn.
In the Sept. 14 “Carolina Cash 5” drawing, one ticket matched all five white balls to win the $50,000 top prize. This ticket was sold at Kopp’s Kwik Stop #1 on Business 17 east in Bolivia.
A total of 44,367 North Carolina Powerball players won prizes in Saturday’s drawing, ranging from $400,000 down to $3 for a total payout in prizes worth $1,067,860. No one matched all five white balls plus the Powerball to win the jackpot, so the jackpot for the Wednesday, Sept. 17, Powerball drawing is an estimated $136 million.
The NCEL has paid out more than $5.5 million total in instant scratch-off ticket prizes since Thursday, Sept. 11. Also since Thursday, “Carolina Cash 5” players have won more than $436,000 and “Carolina Pick 3” players have won more than $804,000 in prizes.
