Charlotte man hits a $1 million jackpot. He keeps playing – and wins big again.
A Charlotte man who previously won a million-dollar lottery prize scored another jackpot, this time in a different game.
“My brother said, ‘Why do you hit it, and I never do?’” Michael Ferri said with a laugh when he claimed his $100,000 prize at lottery headquarters in Raleigh on Monday, according to a lottery news release. “And I said, ‘I don’t know, I guess I’m lucky.’”
Ferri bought his winning $30 Millionaire Maker scratch-off ticket at Express Stop BP on University City Boulevard, officials said.
He beat odds of 1 in 2.95 million, according to the Millionaire Maker game website.
After taxes, he took home $70,759. officials said.
Lottery winner in disbelief
“I couldn’t believe it,” Ferri told lottery officials. “I had to look at it a few times. I was very surprised.”
Ferri couldn’t be reached by the Observer on Wednesday.
He told lottery officials he intends to put some of his winnings into his saving accounts and keep the rest “for taxes and stuff like that.”
Millionaire Maker debuted in March with 30 top $1 million prizes and 10 $100,000 prizes. Of those, 26 $1 million and eight $100,000 prizes remain, according to the lottery.
Charlotte man’s other big win
In April 2019, Ferri won $1 million on a HIT $5,000 scratch-off ticket.
He changed his daily habit of buying a $30 lottery ticket in favor of some less expensive ones, The Charlotte Observer reported at the time.
Ferri typically bought a cup of coffee and a $30 ticket at a Circle K on North Tryon Street on his way to work as an American Burger Company manager each morning. “This time, I decided to get some $10 tickets instead,” Ferri told lottery officials then.
Two-time winners
Ferri was the latest two-time big winner announced by the lottery in March:
▪ Henry Harvey II of Spring Lake, near Fort Bragg in Eastern North Carolina, won $100,000 with a $25 Extreme Cash scratch-off ticket, McClatchy News reported. Earlier in March, he won $5,000 with a $10 scratch-off ticket he bought at the same Circle K in Hope Mills, southwest of downtown Fayetteville.
▪ Willard Weber of Littleton in Halifax County recently won a $1 million Millionaire Maker prize, according to McClatchy News. In August, he and a co-worker split a $4 million win ona Ruby Red 7’s ticket.
This story was originally published March 31, 2021 at 1:37 PM.