Klarissa Stevens of Raleigh went out on a date to the movies on Saturday with her boyfriend, and rounded out the evening with a $100,000 lottery win.
Stevens stopped at the Sheetz on Glenwood Avenue in Raleigh on her way home for an energy drink. While there she collected some small prizes on winning scratch-off tickets and bought some new ones.
Back at home, she scratched to see if she had matched to win any prizes on her $30 $5,000,000 Ultimate ticket. She laughed and shared that it felt like with each stroke of the scratch-off, she revealed a bigger and bigger prize.
“I cried,” she recalled.
Stevens claimed her prize at lottery headquarters in Raleigh on Thursday. After required federal and state tax withholdings, she took home $71,259.
Stevens looks forward to paying off some bills, buying herself a new car, and putting the rest in savings.
“We won’t be a single-car household anymore!” she exclaimed.
The $5,000,000 Ultimate game launched in March with five $5 million top prizes and 15 $100,000. Four $5 million top prizes and 10 $100,000 remain to be won.
Ticket sales from scratch-off games make it possible for the lottery to raise an average of $2.5 million a day for education. For details on how $64.1 million raised by the lottery made a difference in Wake County in 2022, visit www.nclottery.com and click on the “Impact” section.