RALEIGH - The new year got off to a great start for a Robeson County man. Khairalla Aziz of Fairmont bought a ticket for the Dec. 26 “Carolina Cash 5” drawing and matched all five numbers drawn to win the $478,953 top prize. Aziz purchased his winning ticket at Mr. G’s Convenience Mart on Iona Street in Fairmont.

Lucy Hanson of Durham was on the way to visit her mother when she decided to stop at the Kangaroo Express on Erwin Road in Dunn to buy a Powerball ticket for the Nov. 15 drawing. Her quick stop won her $200,000 when the ticket she bought matched all five white balls drawn. Hanson says she will splurge on a day at a spa with her winnings, and then put the rest in savings.

In the Saturday, Jan. 10 Powerball drawing, three North Carolina tickets matched four out of five white balls plus the Power Ball and are worth $10,000 each. These tickets were sold at Wilco on Richlands Highway in Jacksonville, Petro Express on West North Main Street in Waxhaw, and Sea Merchants, Inc. on Cape Fear Boulevard in Carolina Beach.

No one matched all five white balls plus the Powerball, so the jackpot for the Wednesday, Jan. 14 Powerball drawing is an estimated $146 million. A total of 63,565 North Carolina Powerball players won prizes in Saturday night’s Powerball drawing, ranging from $10,000 down to $3 for a total payout in prizes worth $477,382.

The North Carolina Education Lottery (NCEL) has paid out more than $5.7 million total in instant scratchoff ticket prizes since Thursday, Jan. 8. Also since Thursday, “Carolina Cash 5” players have won more than $124,000 and “Carolina Pick 3” players have won more than $1.5 million in prizes.