On a Sunday morning in May, Christopher Card, an IT director from Ayden, woke up to find out that a Cash 5 ticket he had purchased on his iPhone before going to bed had won a $124,792 jackpot.
“I was quite shocked. Shocked, surprised, happy, everything all at once,” recalled Card. “My wife first thought I was playing with her when I told her, but then she got all happy.”
His good luck started two nights before, on Friday night, May 8, when he got ready to go to sleep and decided to sign on to his lottery app.
He purchased one Quick Pick ticket for the drawing that night and one ticket for the Saturday drawing. It was that second ticket that made him a jackpot winner.
He claimed his prize at lottery headquarters in Raleigh on Thursday. After federal and state tax withholdings, he took home $88,291.
“I’m sure I’ll spend a little bit, but most of it will be savings and investing,” Card said. “It’ll be nice to have it in the bank.”
Cash 5 is a statewide draw game that gives players the chance to win a jackpot every single night. Tickets cost $1 and players can buy tickets at most lottery retailers or through Online Play on the lottery’s website or the N.C. Lottery Official Mobile app.
Online Play allows lottery players to purchase tickets online for four draw games, Carolina Cash 5, Lucky For Life, Mega Millions, and Powerball. Friday’s Cash 5 jackpot is $240,000.
Ticket sales from draw games like Cash 5 make it possible for the lottery to raise more than $700 million per year for education. For details on how $10 million raised by the lottery made a difference in Pitt County last year, visit www.nclottery.com and click on the “Impact” section.