At lunch on Wednesday, Sybil Ingram of Rock Hill, S.C. was scanning her lottery tickets with her smartphone to see if she had a winner when a three-week-old Carolina Cash ticket triggered the notification on her lottery app that she had been playing for.
“WINNER,” the alert said. “Claim at lottery headquarters.”
Ingram knew it was good news, but she didn’t know she had won a Cash 5 jackpot until she took off early from work and found her way to the lottery’s Charlotte office where she asked for her ticket to be checked and for the amount of the Sept. 25 jackpot.
“She said “2” and “8” and I went crazy,” said Ingram on Thursday after arriving at headquarters to claim her prize. Her ticket was the only winner of the $289,798 jackpot.
Ingram, who works in marketing in Charlotte, bought Quick Pick tickets for the drawing at Sam’s Mart on Scott Futrell Drive in Charlotte. She said she couldn’t believe she had carried around a ticket worth a quarter of a million dollars for so long.
“I’m excited,” Ingram said.” And I look forward to continue to play. I am just overjoyed and I feel very blessed.”
Ingram’s ticket beat odds of one in 749,398 to win the jackpot. After required state and federal tax withholdings, she took home $204,311.She said she planned to upgrade to a new Lexus, perhaps an ES 350, pay some bills, and might take that dream vacation to Dubai.
The lottery’s app, the NC Lottery Official Mobile App, allows players to quickly scan tickets to see if they are winners, enter tickets into the popular Lucke-Rewards program, and buy tickets to draw games, including Cash 5, Powerball, Mega Millions, and Lucky for Life.
Apps are available for both Iphone and Android phones. Cash 5 is a statewide draw game that gives players the chance to win a jackpot every night. Players can buy tickets at most lottery retailers or through Online Play on the lottery’s website, www.nclottery.com.
Ticket sales from draw games make it possible for the lottery to raise more than $650 million a year for education. For details on how lottery funds have made a difference in all of North Carolina’s 100 counties, click on the “Impact” section of the lottery’s website.