Retiree checks lottery ticket — and the result left him ‘shaking’ in North Carolina
A retiree with a routine of buying lottery tickets just won a big prize in North Carolina.
Thomas Pianelli was on his usual trip to the Buffaloe Express convenience store in Raleigh when he played a new game called Holiday Luck X50, the N.C. Education Lottery said Tuesday in a news release.
“I recently retired and a couple times a week, I go to the corner store and purchase a couple scratch offs,” Pianelli said in the release. “I did the same thing (Monday) morning and after scratching the Holiday ticket I’m still shaking.”
It turns out, the ticket was worth $150,000, the top prize in the game.
“I just sat there staring at the ticket in amazement,” Pianelli told the N.C. Education Lottery.
Pianelli, who worked as a manager in the industrial trucking industry, went home with $106,126 after taxes. The Wake County man told officials he plans to put his prize money toward savings and “helping out the kids, of course.”
It’s not the first time a retiree got a big windfall in North Carolina.
In November, lottery officials said a former rest home worker scored a winning $4 million ticket while out getting groceries.
And in October, a retired man was on a walk when he “just felt lucky,” leading him to score a $200,000 lottery prize, McClatchy News reported.
BEHIND THE STORY
MOREWhen gambling is more than a game
Gambling is designed to be a source of entertainment.
If you or a loved one shows signs of gambling addiction, you can seek help by calling the national gambling hotline at 1-800-522-4700 or visiting the National Council on Problem Gambling website.
