For Richard Acevedo of Kinston, a $255,555 lottery win means a new possibility.

“This is a game changer,” Acevedo said. “It’s going to do a lot for us. Right now, I own my own fiber optics company. This will give me a cushion and let me possibly start flipping houses, which is something I’ve wanted to start doing.”

Acevedo’s good fortune happened Saturday night while he was getting dinner with his wife. They stopped by the Speedway on West Vernon Avenue in Kinston and bought two Fantastic 5’s scratch-off tickets. They took the tickets home and left them on their kitchen island.

“We didn’t scratch them until Sunday,” Acevedo said. “They were just sitting there. Can you imagine if we lost them? Lesson learned. From now on, I’m going to scratch them as soon as I get them.”

When Acevedo saw the matching numbers on the ticket, he couldn’t believe it.

“My wife thought I was having a heart attack,” Acevedo described. “I didn’t think it was real. I didn’t really believe it until they told me, ‘Yes. It’s a winner.’”

Acevedo and his wife claimed the prize Monday at lottery headquarters in Raleigh. After required state and federal tax withholdings, he took home $180,165.

The $5 game launched in January with four top prizes of $255,555. One top prize remains.

Ticket sales from games like Fantastic 5’s make it possible for the lottery to raise more than $600 million dollars 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.