Rufus Wallace of Greensboro tried his luck on a $20 ticket and won the top prize on a holiday scratch-off.
Wallace bought his lucky Holiday Spectacular ticket from Kennedy’s Korner on Friendship Church Road in McLeansville.
He arrived at lottery headquarters Wednesday to collect his prize and, after required state and federal tax withholdings, took home $177,461.
Holiday Spectacular debuted in November with two $250,000 prizes. One $250,000 prize remains to be claimed.
Ticket sales from scratch-offs make it possible for the lottery to raise more than $2.5 million a day on average for education. For details on how $33 million raised by the lottery made a difference in Guilford County last year, visit www.nclottery.com and click on the “Impact” section.