Lottery player uses birthdays to choose Powerball numbers — and scores a big win in NC
A North Carolina woman chose her own lottery numbers — and “couldn’t believe her eyes” when she checked them.
Sonya Grantham-Griffis’ ticket matched enough numbers in a recent Powerball drawing to score a $100,000 prize, The N.C. Education Lottery said Tuesday in a news release.
Grantham-Griffis, who lives in Wake County, used her friends’ and relatives’ birthdays to inspire her winning lottery picks, officials said.
Her big prize came after a stop at a Han-Dee Hugo’s convenience store in Garner. At the Benson Highway location, officials said Grantham-Griffis tried her luck on a Powerball ticket.
She went online to check the outcome of Saturday’s drawing and discovered her ticket beat 1-in-913,129 odds to win, the N.C. Education Lottery said.
Grantham-Griffis kept $70,751 after taxes and told officials she will use some of her winnings to “fix up the house.” The rest of the prize money is expected to go into savings.
It’s not the first time a Wake County resident has had a stroke of luck this year.
In February, a Raleigh man won big after he also used family members’ birthdays to choose his lottery picks, McClatchy News reported.
That same month, officials said a Wake County bus driver went to the grocery store and bought a lottery ticket that hit the jackpot.
