Man commits to same lottery game because ‘they’re just fun’ — and he wins big in NC
A North Carolina man only opted to play one kind of scratch-off game, and it paid off big, lottery officials said.
Charlie Crooms always had a love for crossword puzzle scratch-offs, so it became his game of choice, according to a March 19 North Carolina Education Lottery news release. When he went to a Speedway in Beaufort to buy a lottery ticket, he selected a $5 Power Cashword ticket to test his luck, lottery officials said.
“Those are the only games I play,” the man said in the release. “I always liked the crosswords because they’re just fun.”
When Crooms checked his ticket, he realized he might have had a winner on his hands, according to lottery officials.
“I knew I won something, but I actually didn’t even know how much,” he told lottery officials with a laugh.
It turned out that he won $150,000 with his scratch-off ticket, lottery officials said. He became the third person to win the Power Cashword top prize, which debuted in October, and three more winners still remain.
Now, Crooms plans to celebrate his large win in the company of his family, according to lottery officials.
“I want to get the whole family together and take them out,” he said. “And it’ll all be on me.”
Crooms’ total winnings after taxes came out to $107,251, according to lottery officials.
Beaufort is about a 100-mile drive northeast of Wilmington.
