When the Cash 5 jackpot got above $500,000 Charlie Bennett of New Bern decided to try his luck at the jackpot and ended up taking home $642,767.

“I think it was at $500,000 on the 27th and so I said, ‘Well, it’s time to start playing again,’” recalled Bennett. “So, on the 28th I decided to go out and play.”

He purchased his winning Quick Pick ticket for the Dec. 28 drawing from the Super Stop on Neuse Boulevard in New Bern.

The next morning, Bennett woke up to celebrate his mother’s birthday and decided to check his tickets using his NC Lottery Official Mobile App.

“The first ticket I turned over was the winner,” he recalled. “It was pretty exciting.”

Bennett claimed his prize Friday at lottery headquarters in Raleigh. After required federal and state tax withholdings, he took home $454,760.

“I feel blessed,” he said of winning the jackpot. “I’ll probably take care of some bills and give a little bit to some of the family.”

Carolina Cash 5 tickets are $1 and drawings are held every night. Wednesday’s jackpot is $100,000.

Cash 5 is one of four lottery games in North Carolina where players have the option of buying their tickets through Online Play either through the lottery’s website or with the NC Lottery Official Mobile App.

Ticket sales from draw games like Cash 5 make it possible for the lottery to raise more than $725 million a year for education. For details on how lottery funds have helped all of North Carolina’s 100 counties, click on the “Impact” section of the lottery’s website.