18-year-old buying gas trusts gut on NC lottery ticket. Prize leaves him in ‘disbelief’
It was a rare hunch that prompted a North Carolina man to play the lottery — and the life-changing prize left him “in disbelief.”
“I really didn’t think it was true,” Donnie Leviner of Laurinburg told North Carolina Education Lottery officials.
The 18-year-old stopped for gas at Sneads Grove Convenience in Laurel Hill and walked away with a $2 million win, officials said in an April 29 news release.
Leviner said “something just told me to buy” the $20 Big Cash Payout game, despite playing the lottery only a handful of times before his big win. He opted for a lump sum payment and took home $858,006, after taxes, officials said.
“I initially just went there to fill up the lawn mower,” the lucky winner said, laughing.
Leviner doesn’t have a solid plan for his winnings but said he plans to “spend it wisely,” according to officials.
He beat odds of 1,598,205 to win the top prize in the Big Cash Payout game, according to the lottery website. There are two $2 million prizes and five $100,000 prizes still up for grabs.
Laurel Hill is about a 100-mile drive southwest from Raleigh.