Charlotte man thought lottery tickets from boss were a prank. Top prize he won was real.
A Charlotte landscaper scored a top lottery prize with a ticket his boss gave him in a Christmas goodie bag, North Carolina lottery officials said Thursday.
Ta’Von Batts said he thought his boss pulled a prank when Batts scratched off the $5 Black Diamond 7s scratch-off tickets and saw that he’d won the top $200,000 prize.
“I’m not gonna lie,” Batts told officials when he claimed his prize at lottery headquarters in Raleigh on Wednesday, according to a lottery news release. “At first, I thought it was one of those prank lottery tickets.
“So I went up to him and was like, ‘You’re playing with me!’“ Batts said.
“And he said, ‘No!’ and then his eyes got really big, and he started running around screaming. And then I started running around screaming.”
According to Batts, his boss put two lottery tickets in each gift bag given to all employees before Christmas.
Batts beat odds of about 1 in 4 million, according to the lottery website.
The ticket was bought at the Quik Trip convenience store on West W.T. Harris Boulevard, officials said.
After taxes, Batts netted $141,501, according to lottery officials.
Batts said he plans to invest his winnings to “make more money off of it, and I’ll give some back to my family.”
Three top prizes remain in the Black Diamond 7s game, which the lottery debuted in November.