‘Gut feeling’ led NC lottery player to massive jackpot win. ‘Tickled to death’
A man followed his gut — and won a massive jackpot prize in North Carolina.
“I’m tickled to death with this,” $1 million winner Ricky Nunnery Jr. told the N.C. Education Lottery.
Nunnery scored the first top prize in a new scratch-off game, fulfilling one of his dreams.
“I dreamed that I would hit big on the lottery,” the winner told lottery officials in a July 11 news release.
Nunnery hit the jackpot after a stop at the Wink Mart gas station in Sanford, a roughly 40-mile drive southwest from Raleigh. While there, he followed a “gut feeling,” according to lottery officials.
The decision paid off when his $10 ticket turned into a big prize in the $1,000,000 Triple Play game.
“Something just told me to play,” said Nunnery, who lives in Sanford.
Nunnery took his prize as a lump sum of $600,000 and kept $430,503 after taxes. He plans to put the money toward bills and investments.
In the past, a lottery spokesperson told McClatchy News that most jackpot winners go for the lump sum option.
This story was originally published July 14, 2025 at 9:48 AM with the headline "‘Gut feeling’ led NC lottery player to massive jackpot win. ‘Tickled to death’."
