After finishing up at the courthouse, Frank Abrams of Arden checked his Cash 5 tickets and learned he was the lucky winner of a $201,000 jackpot.

“I’ve been doing the same numbers for years,” he said.

Abrams, who works as an attorney, stopped at the Publix on Hendersonville Road in Asheville on Monday to check his tickets from Sunday’s drawing.

“Something pops up on the screen and it says, ‘Go to lottery headquarters,’” recalled Abrams. Immediately, he thought, “there must be something wrong with the machine!”

He called his wife right away to share his good fortune. “Boy, I tell you, it made her day,” he said. “She says to me, ‘Buy tickets to help education.’ And so that’s why I do it, to help the educational system.”

Abrams claimed his prize Tuesday at lottery headquarters in Raleigh. After required federal and state tax withholdings, he took home $142,208.

“I tell you it was a good day yesterday,” said Abrams. “This is just beyond incredible.”

With his prize money, Abrams plans to do some house repair and pay off some bills. “Help my daughter a little bit with educational expenses and help our family,” he said. “Do something good with it.”

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, through Online Play on the lottery’s website, or on the NC Lottery Official Mobile app.

Tuesday’s Cash 5 jackpot is $100,000.

Ticket sales from draw games make it possible for the lottery to raise more than $725 million per year for education. For details on how $11.2 million raised by the lottery made a difference in Buncombe County in 2019, click on the “Impact” section of the lottery’s website.