News writer
If you won $1 million playing the lottery, where would you keep the winning ticket? This lucky North Carolina woman decided to store it in what she thought was the safest spot in the house — under the mattress!
A $1 million winning ticket
Arely Mayorga Martinez couldn't believe what she was seeing after finding out she won $1 million on a $10 Multiplier Mania instant ticket from the North Carolina Lottery.
Martinez's husband purchased the winning ticket at Shopton Commons BO, located at 9311 Steele Creek Road in Charlotte. He brought the scratcher home for his wife to scrape, and she was blown away by what she was seeing.
After realizing she had a $1 million winning ticket, Martinez decided to put it in a safe place in the house until she could claim the prize. Where was that safe place? She laughed as she told lottery officials, “We hid it under our mattress.”
Martinez made her way to the lottery headquarters to claim her prize, and when she arrived, she had a decision to make. That $1 million prize could be paid out as an annuity of $50,000 over 20 years or a one-time lump sum payment of $600,000.
She chose the lump sum option of $600,000, and after the required state and federal tax withholdings, she took home $429,003.
Martinez told lottery officials, “We are so happy.”
Now that she has the money in hand, she said she can fulfill her dream of buying a house!
The Multiplier Mania scratcher debuted in June of 2023 for the North Carolina Lottery. There were six $1 million top prizes available at the time and after Martinez's win, there is only one $1 million prize remaining to be claimed.
Two big wins, one lucky game
Another lucky North Carolina Lottery winner has had double the luck playing the Cash 5 draw game.
Cathy Noe of Newport recently found herself the lucky winner of a $346,088 jackpot in the Cash 5 game, which happens to be the second time she has had good luck playing the game. Noe previously won $100,000 in the Cash 5 Bonus Cash promotion in November 2023.
Now she can celebrate a big jackpot win, which she bought the winning ticket from C Co Mini Mart, located on U.S. 70 in Newport. Her ticket matched all five of the winning numbers in the August 29 drawing — which were 2, 3, 22, 33, and 34 — to win the jackpot.
The odds of matching all five numbers and winning the jackpot in Cash 5 are 1 in 962,598.
Noe recently made her way to the North Carolina Lottery Headquarters in Raleigh to claim her winnings. After the required federal and state tax withholdings, she took home $247,456.
Quick pick Cash 5 jackpot win
Keeping up with the Cash 5 jackpot winners, another lucky North Carolina Lottery player hit the jackpot playing the in-state draw game.
Kevin Linkous of Sanford bought his lucky Quick Pick ticket online. His numbers ended up matching all five of the winning numbers for the September 3 drawing — which were 1, 19, 27, 28, and 30 — to win the jackpot for the night, which was $161,582.
He also recently made his way to the lottery headquarters in Raleigh to claim his prize. After the required state and federal tax withholdings, he took home $115,531.
Enjoy playing the North Carolina Lottery, and please remember to play responsibly.
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