Ahmed Owda of Dunn went to get a haircut, decided to stop at a “lucky” convenience store, and won a $270,492 Fast Play jackpot.

Back on July 17, Owda purchased his winning $10 Jackpot 7’s ticket from the Stop N Go on East Cumberland Street in Dunn.

He recalled seeing the sign in the window that two previous winners had bought their lucky Fast Play tickets at the store, and decided to buy a ticket himself.

“I said, ‘I’ll try my luck, why not,” Owda recalled. “You never know. And I won!’”

The odds of winning a Fast Play jackpot are 1 in 240,000. A $10 ticket receives the full jackpot amount.

Owda claimed his prize Monday at lottery headquarters in Raleigh. After required federal and state tax withholdings, he took home $191,376.

He plans to use some of his money to take a vacation.

Fast Play’s rolling, progressive jackpot increases with every ticket sold until it is won.

Printed on each Fast Play ticket is the amount of the jackpot when the ticket is sold and how much of that jackpot the ticket could win. Players can also win instant cash prizes on their Fast Play tickets.

Ticket sales from games like Fast Play make it possible for the lottery to raise more than $725 million per year for education. A $10 million grant, using money raised by the lottery, will help Harnett County build a new Northwest Harnett Elementary School, which aims to accommodate 950 students.

For details on other ways Harnett County benefits from lottery funds, visit www.nclottery.com and click on the “Impact” section.