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Man, woman score jackpots on $1 tickets in popular NC lottery game, officials say

A man and a woman won jackpots on $1 tickets in a popular NC lottery game, lottery officials said on Friday, Jan. 3, 2025.
A man and a woman won jackpots on $1 tickets in a popular NC lottery game, lottery officials said on Friday, Jan. 3, 2025. GETTY IMAGES

A man bought a $1 ticket in a popular nightly North Carolina lottery game and scored a jackpot when he matched the numbers on all five balls drawn Tuesday, lottery officials said.

The following night, a woman hit the jackpot by matching the five new numbers in the same Cash 5 game, also on a $1 ticket.

A North Carolina man didn’t believe it at first when he hit a jackpot on a $1 ticket in the popular Cash 5 game, lottery officials said.
A North Carolina man didn’t believe it at first when he hit a jackpot on a $1 ticket in the popular Cash 5 game, lottery officials said. North Carolina Education Lottery

The players beat odds of 1 in 962,598, according to lottery news releases about the wins.

Spencer Matthews of Charlotte bought his winning ticket through Online Play on the lottery website, officials said. The numbers he matched were 11, 17, 25, 29 and 30.

Matthews claimed his prize at lottery headquarters in Raleigh on Friday and took home $226,678 after taxes, according to the lottery.

In Wednesday’s drawing, Shelia Autry of Dallas won the $100,000 jackpot by matching the numbers 11, 15, 19, 35 and 42.

Autry bought her ticket at Dallas Mini Mart on East Trade Street in Dallas.

A woman hit a Cash 5 lottery game jackpot on Jan. 1, 2025, on a $1 ticket bought at this North Carolina convenience store, N.C. lottery officials said.
A woman hit a Cash 5 lottery game jackpot on Jan. 1, 2025, on a $1 ticket bought at this North Carolina convenience store, N.C. lottery officials said. Street View image from April 2023. © 2024 Google

She also claimed her prize at lottery headquarters on Friday and took home $71,753 after taxes, officials said.

When they claimed their prizes, neither winner said what they’ll do with the money.

The jackpot for the next Cash 5 drawing, at 11:22 p.m. Saturday, rose to $120,000, after no one won the top prize in Friday night’s drawing. Friday’s numbers were 14, 15, 16, 17 and 36.

Players can buy tickets for Cash 5 and five other N.C. lottery games at retailers and on the lottery website and app.

This story was originally published January 4, 2025 at 8:47 AM.

Joe Marusak
The Charlotte Observer
Joe Marusak has been a reporter for The Charlotte Observer since 1989 covering the people, municipalities and major news events of the region, and was a news bureau editor for the paper. He currently reports on breaking news. Support my work with a digital subscription
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