Woman decides to ‘sit at home and play games’ and wins jackpot in NC lottery

A North Carolina woman just won a lottery jackpot by doing exactly what parents tell their kids not to do all day: Sit around the house and play online games.

Vertella Gadberry of Winston-Salem was playing Wheel of Fortune on Saturday when she beat odds of 1 in 16.6 million, according to the N.C. Education Lottery.

The game has a progressive jackpot that grows until someone wins and in her case, the prize was $768,201, officials said.

“I didn’t know if it was real. I was in shock,” Gadberry said in a news release.

She picked up her prize Wednesday, Feb. 11, and it came to $553,183 after state and federal taxes, lottery officials said.

“I’m going to buy a house,” she said.

Wheel of Fortune is a “digital instant game,” which is online only. Plays cost from 50 cents to $30, with a goal of matching symbols on the wheel. Gadberry wagered $3 to win the jackpot.

“I like that I can just sit at home and play the games,” she said in the release.

The game restarts at $150,000 after each win.

Winston-Salem is about an 80-mile drive northeast from uptown Charlotte.

This story was originally published February 13, 2026 at 10:53 AM.