Lottery player thought he won $200 on NC scratch-off game. Then came ‘all the zeros’
A North Carolina man couldn’t believe his eyes after he uncovered a six-figure lottery prize.
“I really thought it was a dream and that I would wake up any second,” Nicholas Parker told North Carolina Education Lottery officials of the moment he realized his $200,000 win. “I was pinching myself.”
Parker, who’s from Pittsboro, said he bought the $5 Carolina Panthers scratch-off game from a Sheetz in Fuquay-Varina, officials said in a Dec. 29 news release. At first, he thought he won $200 but then saw “all the zeros.”
“I just sat there looking at it,” Parker recalled to officials. “When it finally set in, I got super excited and started freaking out a little bit.”
He claimed his money Dec. 29 at lottery headquarters and walked away with $142,501 after taxes, the release said.
Parker told officials he plans to pay bills and invest his newfound wealth.
The lottery player beat odds of 1 in 1.352 million to win the $200,000 jackpot, according to the North Carolina Education Lottery’s website. Only two top prizes remain in the Carolina Panthers game, officials said.
This story was originally published January 1, 2024 at 1:39 PM with the headline "Lottery player thought he won $200 on NC scratch-off game. Then came ‘all the zeros’."