Charlotte-area mom starts her day with breakfast — and a lottery jackpot
Pamela Griffin of Marshville says she was “completely dumbfounded” when she showed her husband a winning lottery ticket while he was cooking breakfast for their kids.
“I was just in utter shock,” Griffin told North Carolina Education Lottery officials in Raleigh on Monday.
Griffin, 55, turned her $10 Big Bucks Bingo and Fast Play ticket into a $263,465 jackpot. At first, Griffith thought she’d just won $20, but the amount kept getting bigger, lottery officials said.
When Griffin told her husband, he didn’t believe her until he saw the ticket.
“He thought I was crazy or something,” she said.
She bought her ticket from the Food Lion on Marshville Boulevard in the Union County town about 45 miles southeast of Charlotte. She claimed her prize Monday in Raleigh and took home $187,089 after taxes.
Griffin has a daughter about to begin college, so she plans to use some of the winnings to help pay for schooling, she said.
Fast Play’s rolling, progressive jackpot increases with every ticket sold until it is won. A $10 ticket, such as the Big Bucks Bingo, receives 100% of the jackpot amount. The odds of winning a Fast Play jackpot are 1 in 240,000, according to lottery officials.
Griffin is the second Charlotte-area lottery winner so far this week.
Marjorie Grier of Charlotte split a $470,974 jackpot in Thursday’s Cash 5 drawing.
Grier bought her Quick Pick ticket from Smoker’s Depot on South Tryon Street. She claimed her prize Tuesday at lottery headquarters and took home $167,220 after taxes.
The other winner is from Durham, lottery officials said.
Cash 5 tickets are $1, and drawings are held every night, according to the lottery website.
This story was originally published February 23, 2022 at 6:25 AM.
