$1 lottery ticket turns into huge jackpot win for NC man. ‘I told everybody’
A man spent $1 on a lottery ticket — and it turned into a huge jackpot prize in North Carolina.
Michael Mancuso Jr. learned he won $318,544 and couldn’t wait to call his family.
“I told everybody,” Mancuso told the N.C. Education Lottery in a July 22 news release. “They were all just excited.”
Now, the lucky winner hopes to share his prize money with his loved ones.
“I’m going to give a lot to my sister and my brother,” said Mancuso, who lives in the Western North Carolina town of Maggie Valley. “I want to spread it around to my family.”
Mancuso hit the jackpot after he stopped at Maggie Valley Mart, a roughly 35-mile drive west from the mountain destination of Asheville. While there, he bought a $1 ticket for the Carolina Cash 5 game. He chose the Quick Pick option, meaning a machine chose his numbers at random, rules show.
It turns out, his ticket beat 1-in-962,598 odds to match all the numbers picked in the July 3 drawing. He was watching the results live and couldn’t believe his luck.
“I was kind of in shock,” Mancuso said in the release. “I’m still in shock.”
The prize winner kept $228,556 after taxes. In addition to helping his family, he may put his winnings toward a new motorcycle.
Mancuso’s win came on a lucky day for North Carolina lottery players. Another ticket sold in the state was worth $4.7 million, McClatchy News reported.
This story was originally published July 23, 2025 at 9:22 AM with the headline "$1 lottery ticket turns into huge jackpot win for NC man. ‘I told everybody’."
