‘I almost started crying:’ Charlotte-area man stops to get a drink, hits lottery jackpot
A Charlotte-area man can thank his thirst for hitting a North Carolina lottery jackpot.
Stephen Kardos of Kannapolis was on his way to a Carolina Beach pier in Wilmington when he became parched. The 28-year-old walked into a Han-Dee Hugo’s convenience store on Carolina Beach Road, bought a drink and a $10 Scorching Hot 7s scratch-off ticket.
Kardos scratched the ticket in his car and that’s when he realized he’d won $700,000.
“I almost started crying,” Kardos told North Carolina Education Lottery officials. “I can finally own my own house now.”
Kardos told officials he “freaked out” and even thought the ticket was “fake or something.”
He claimed his prize Tuesday at lottery headquarters in Raleigh. After taxes, he took home $497,073.
Kardos told officials that he might move to Wilmington when he buys his house because he “loves to fish.”
The overall chances of the prizes for the Scorching Hot 7s game is 1 in 3.65, according to the lottery website. Two of the four $700,000 jackpots remain.
