Benjamin Sinclair of Winston-Salem said a set of lucky numbers helped him win a $1 million Powerball prize.

“I’ve been playing the same numbers for five years,” Sinclair said. “They’re very special to me.”

Sinclair’s good luck began when he stopped at the Sheetz on Fairlawn Drive in Winston-Salem and bought a $2 ticket for the drawing on Oct. 27.

“I only play when the jackpot gets above a certain amount,” Sinclair said. “I knew it was a long shot, but I still used the same numbers.”

He checked his ticket the next evening.

“I had to look at the numbers several times to make sure,” Sinclair said. “It feels great to win.”

Sinclair claimed the prize Thursday afternoon at lottery headquarters in Raleigh. After required state and federal tax withholdings, he took home $705,011.

The ticket matched the numbers on the five white balls to win the $1 million prize. It beat odds of one in 11.7 million. It was one of eight tickets in North Carolina to win a big prize in the drawing.

The jackpot for Saturday’s Powerball drawing is $92 million or $52.6 million cash.

Ticket sales from draw games like Powerball make it possible for the lottery to raise more than $650 million a year for the state. 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.