News writer
A North Carolina man had a hunch — and it was all about the number 8. For years, he stuck with the same bold Pick 4 combination, 8-8-8-8, despite moments of doubt.
Recently, his persistence paid off in a big way, turning a simple string of numbers into a $100,000 win. This proves that sometimes, sticking to your lucky digits can lead to life-changing surprises.
The big Pick 4 win
On Sunday, January 12, the afternoon drawing for the Pick 4 game had players excited. It was a “quads” kind of afternoon, as the winning number was 8-8-8-8.
That winning combination brought $12.2 million in winnings for lottery players, the most ever won in a single drawing in the Pick 4 game. There were 3,151 winning tickets purchased that day. The top prize for Pick 4 is $5,000 and that goes to players who hold one of the winning $1 tickets purchased for that drawing. Those players winning with 50-cent tickets received a prize of $2,500.
One of those lucky players hit it big
One of those lucky players winning on the 8-8-8-8 combination was Abdellatif Tlili of Raleigh, who has been playing that combination for years. He told lottery officials, “I almost gave up a couple of times, but I'm glad I didn't. It was my dream to win.”
Tlili must have had a lot of faith that this winning combination would come up, as he purchased 20 $1 tickets using Online Pay. That means he had 20 winning tickets worth $5,000 each — giving him a total win of $100,000.
So, why the 8-8-8-8 combination for Tlili? He said the advice came from an old friend.
Tlili said:
She told me to keep playing the 8's. I told her I won with 8-8-8 playing Pick 3, and she said I should just add one more 8 and do Pick 4.
Claiming his winnings
That advice and his persistence in sticking with it paid off, as Tlili recently made his way to lottery headquarters to claim his prize.
After the required state tax withholdings, he took home $95,751. He told lottery officials he plans on using his winnings to help take care of his children.
Why were taxes so low?
If you noticed that take-home amount for Tlili and questioned it, you wouldn't be alone. We were baffled too, seeming he won $100,000 and only had less than $5,000 in taxes taken out. How is that possible?
As it turns out, the North Carolina Lottery is only required to withhold federal taxes — which is at 24% — for prizes of $5,001 or more. Tlili may have won $100,000 total, but that was based on 20 winning tickets of $5,000 each.
That meant officials only had to withhold the minimum state taxes — which is at 4.25% — from each prize. After doing that for each $5,000 prize, Tlili was able to walk out of lottery headquarters with $95,751 in his pocket.
Enjoy playing the North Carolina Lottery, and please remember to play responsibly.
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