RALEIGH – Lloyd Armstrong from Columbia stopped for gas on his way to play pool Friday night, and left with a ticket that would pocket him a $1 million Powerball prize.
Armstrong bought the $2 ticket from Duck Thru Food Store on U.S. 64 East in Columbia. When his wife and son told him Sunday about a winning ticket in Tyrrell County. Armstrong recalled thinking, “Okay, wow. I really need to check my ticket.”
Armstrong, an insurance agent, conducted the check in his living room that night and saw his numbers matched the numbers on all five white balls in the drawing. The odds of matching all five white balls to win $1 million are 1 in 11.6 million. After discovering his win, Armstrong and his wife took pictures of the ticket.
“We looked at each other and said, ‘what are we going to do now?’” Armstrong laughed. “We could hardly sleep last night.”
Armstrong claimed his prize Monday at lottery headquarters in Raleigh. After required federal and state tax withholdings, Armstrong took home $712,501. He plans to reach out to a financial planner, pay bills, donate to his church, and take a trip to Scotland with his winnings.
Both the Powerball and the Mega Million games offer major jackpots this week. Tuesday’s Mega Millions jackpot stands at $289 million as an annuity or $132 million cash. Wednesday’s Powerball jackpot stands at $313 million as an annuity, or $144 million in cash. The odds of winning a Powerball jackpot are 1 in 292 million. The odds of winning a Mega Millions jackpot are 1 in 302 million.
Powerball and Mega Millions are two of six draw games in North Carolina where players have the option of buying their tickets at a retail location or with Online Play through the lottery’s website or with the NC Lottery Official Mobile App. Lottery players now can also play digital instants games on the website at nclottery.com
Ticket sales from draw games make it possible for the lottery to raise more than $2.8 million a day on average for education. For details on how lottery funds have made a difference in all of North Carolina’s 100 counties, click on the “Impact” section of the lottery’s website.