Christina Montgomery of Jacksonville bought a ticket from a lottery vending machine from the place she works, while on break. That $20 ticket turned out to win her $100,000.
“I’m still thinking it’s a dream,” Montgomery said in a press release.
The Food Lion cashier bought a Premier Cash ticket from the Gum Branch Road establishment, saying she had a strong feeling to get one.
“Something was just telling me to play it,” Montgomery said. “Things happen for a reason.”
The 27-year-old said when she began scratching off the ticket, she only noticed two zeroes at first. She kept going to uncover three more zeroes.
Montgomery visited Raleigh on Friday to pick up her earnings, which totaled $71,016 after required state and federal tax withholdings. She said in the release she plans to use the money to buy a new car and possibly save some for starting a family.
The Premier Cash game debuted in August with four top prizes of $2 million and eight $100,000 prizes. Two $2 million prizes and two $100,000 prizes remain to be claimed.
Ticket sales from scratch-off games make it possible for the lottery to allocate more than $900 million per year for education. In Onslow County, the lottery raised $12.1 million toward education in 2021.
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