Two lottery tickets worth $1 million sold in North Carolina. Where were they sold?
UPDATE: The North Carolina Education Lottery on Nov. 21 said a winner came forward to claim the $1 million Powerball prize. Read about how he reacted to the big win here.
The original story is below.
Two lottery tickets sold in North Carolina won $1 million prizes — just one day apart.
First, one lucky player won big in the Mega Millions game. That ticket was sold at the Sumner Food Mart and Hardware store in Greensboro, The Charlotte Observer reported.
The ticket matched five of the six numbers drawn on Friday, Nov. 17. The numbers picked that night: 6-12-31-33-69, with Mega Ball number 17, according to Mega Millions and the N.C. Education Lottery.
Then luck struck again when another player scored $1 million in the Powerball game. The winner is set to get richer after buying the ticket at Duck Thru Food in Columbia, a Tyrrell County town roughly 150 miles east of Raleigh, lottery officials wrote in a news release.
The Columbia ticket matched five of six numbers drawn Saturday, Nov. 18. The numbers picked in the drawing: 34-50-51-61-67, with Powerball number 20, according to the Powerball website.
Lottery officials told McClatchy News in an email no one had come forward to claim the prizes as of early Nov. 20. North Carolina gives winners about six months to cash in their prizes.
Though the $1 million lottery winners scored big windfalls, they each missed larger jackpot prizes by one number. The Mega Millions jackpot was an estimated $267 million, while the major Powerball prize was about $280 million.
But players wanting to score a jackpot win face steep odds of roughly 1-in-302 million for Mega Millions and 1-in-292 million for Powerball, officials said.
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.
This story was originally published November 20, 2023 at 9:15 AM with the headline "Two lottery tickets worth $1 million sold in North Carolina. Where were they sold?."
