‘I’m gonna try my luck on a dollar’ — but North Carolina lottery player won much more
A woman spent $1 on a lottery ticket — and it paid off big time in North Carolina.
Angela Forney was surprised with a $533,035 jackpot win days after turning a year older, the N.C. Education Lottery said Thursday in a news release.
“For my 48th birthday, it was just amazing,” she said in the release.
Forney’s good luck started with a trip to Sai Mart in Rutherfordton, a town roughly 70 miles west of Charlotte. That’s where officials say she used Quick Pick numbers to play the Carolina Cash 5 game.
“It’s just a dollar ticket and I happened to have a few in my pocket,” Forney told officials. “I just said, ‘I’m gonna try my luck on a dollar, a dollar won’t break me.’”
And when Forney checked how her ticket fared in Monday’s drawing, she said she wasn’t convinced it was real.
“The first three numbers were right and the last two numbers were right and I couldn’t believe it,” she said in the lottery’s news release.
But the prize was the real deal, and Forney kept $377,123 after taxes. She lives in the Western North Carolina town of Spindale and considers the win a belated birthday gift, officials say.
“A car is my main purchase right now,” Forney told the N.C. Education Lottery. “And when the weather warms up, I’ll look into buying a house.”
It’s not the first time a big windfall has coincided with a celebration in North Carolina.
In January, a couple married for almost 70 years hit the jackpot just before their anniversary, McClatchy News reported.
And in August 2019, a pair engaged for four years planned to put their lottery winnings toward a dream wedding.
BEHIND THE STORY
MOREWhen gambling is more than a game
Gambling is designed to be a source of entertainment.
If you or a loved one shows signs of gambling addiction, you can seek help by calling the national gambling hotline at 1-800-522-4700 or visiting the National Council on Problem Gambling website.
