Woman won $5 in NC lottery and decided to spend it on another ticket. It paid off big

Most people would be happy to win anything in the lottery, but one North Carolina woman decided a $5 prize wasn’t enough and she spent the money on the spot to buy a $5 ticket.

It was a smart move.

Charlene Ratchford of Shelby won $200,000 with the second ticket, according to a release from the N.C. Education Lottery. Shelby is about 40 miles west of Charlotte in Cleveland County.

That’s the game’s top prize and she beat odds of 1 in 1,200,000 to win it, according to the lottery’s website.

“I scratched it off later on that night and I was just in shock,” she said in the release. “I couldn’t believe it.”

It’s not the kind of money that will permit the professional machine assembler to retire early, but Ratchford was nonetheless “overjoyed” at the idea of winning twice in one day.

The winning ticket were bought at the Curve View Quick Shop in Shelby, officials said.

Ratchford picked up her money Thursday in Raleigh and the prize came to $141,501 after the lottery took out federal and state taxes, officials said.

“I’m going to take care of my family and take care of my bills,” Ratchford said in the release. “And also, my mama: Anything she needs or wants, she got it!”

Her winning ticket was in the CA$H PLU$ game, which only launched 10 days ago (on March 2). It has a dozen prize categories, the lowest of which is $5.

That’s basically breaking even, which obviously wasn’t good enough for Ratchford.

This story was originally published March 12, 2021 at 3:10 PM with the headline "Woman won $5 in NC lottery and decided to spend it on another ticket. It paid off big."