Lottery player ‘manifested’ NC win. ‘Wasn’t expecting to see all those zeroes’

A lottery player in North Carolina said she always expected to hit a big win, but when she did, she still “wasn’t expecting to see all those zeroes.”

Audrey Peele of Wilmington won $100,000 in the new Ruby Red 7’s scratch-off game from a gas station in Hampstead, the North Carolina Education Lottery said Aug. 6.

“I went to the store looking for the new tickets,” Peele told lottery officials. “I like playing the new games.”

So she bought the $20 scratch-off, which advertises a $2 million top prize. She didn’t hit the jackpot, but she still beat the 1-in-569,076 odds to win the first of nine $100,000 prizes in the game, records show.

“I always thought I would win big one day,” Peele told lottery officials. “In my mind, I manifested it.”

She said she called her wife to deliver the big news — but she received some skepticism.

“She didn’t believe me because I kid with her a lot,” Peele told lottery officials.

She said she plans to use her winnings, which came out to $71,756 after taxes, to pay off her car.

Hampstead is about a 20-mile drive northeast from Wilmington.

This story was originally published August 7, 2025 at 12:12 PM with the headline "Lottery player ‘manifested’ NC win. ‘Wasn’t expecting to see all those zeroes’."