A North Carolina lottery player hit the jackpot and won a whopping $837,000 with a $1 ticket.
However, because of his decision, $237,000 was immediately deducted from his winnings.
David Atwell, a resident of Kannapolis, North Carolina – 27 miles northeast of Charlotte – recently had a life-changing lottery experience.
He bought a $1 Cash 5 ticket on Jiffy Quik, a move that netted him $837,187 as of April 27, according to the North Carolina Lottery.
His decision to buy the lottery ticket was based on a dream his sister had that predicted his victory.
“In her dream, I found a lot of gold,” he said. “I think dreams come true.”
Although the big win came as a surprise, Atwell said he has always been very lucky.
“My family always said I was the luckiest in the family,” he said.
Atwell matched five numbers to win the prize, despite the odds of winning the jackpot being just one in 962,598.
“I was shocked,” Atwell said. “At the beginning, I saw that the jackpot had dropped to $100,000, so I knew someone had got it right. I had no idea it was me.”
When he realized he was the lucky winner, the North Carolina player couldn’t contain his excitement.
“He was screaming so much he scared the cat,” said his wife Cherie.
Atwell claimed his money at the North Carolina Lottery headquarters in Raleigh on April 30.
He opted for the lump sum option and took home $598,591 after state and federal taxes.
With her earnings, Atwell plans to pay bills and donate to her church.
MONEY 5
Carolina Cash 5 is North Carolina’s rolling jackpot game.
The jackpot starts at $100,000 and increases until someone wins the prize.
To play, players must choose five numbers between one and 43.
Players win the jackpot by matching all five numbers, although matching four, three or two numbers will also win a prize.
Lottery Prizes: Lump Sum vs Annual Fee
Lottery winners have to decide whether they want to win a big prize as a lump sum or as annuity payments.
What is a lump sum?
- Lottery winners can accept a one-time cash payment.
- Although a winner would lose a portion of their payout in taxes, they would likely lose more over time with annual payments.
What are annual payments?
- Installments are paid as one immediate payment followed by a series of payments every year.
- This guarantees an inflow of money for years or even decades, but some winners worry that tax rates could increase over time.
Matching four numbers wins $250, three numbers wins $5, and two numbers wins $1.
To increase their chances of winning, players can pay $1 to add a Double Game, which enters their numbers into a second draw.
The US Sun has previously reported on other lucky lottery winners.
An Army vet won a $4 million lottery jackpot after using numbers from a fortune cookie.
Another player won a huge $3 million jackpot after the store owner predicted his win.
This story originally appeared on The-sun.com read the full story
