NC man hits top Mega Millions prize with a $2 ticket. How he chose the lucky numbers.
A Mecklenburg County man paid $2 for a Mega Millions ticket and was stunned when his usual numbers hit a $1 million jackpot, North Carolina lottery officials said Wednesday.
“I had to look at it a few times,” Carlos Cortes of Matthews told officials after claiming his prize at lottery headquarters in Raleigh on Wednesday, according to a lottery news release.
His numbers matched the five white balls in the Feb. 12 drawing, beating odds of 1 in 12.6 million, officials said.
Cortes said he’s played the same numbers for awhile. The numbers represent “significant birth dates,” he said.
He bought the ticket through Online Play on the lottery’s website and netted $707,511 after taxes, officials said.
“I did a few double takes,” he said. “I realized it was the five numbers, and I probably would have hit the ceiling if the last number hit. It’s a lot more than what I had, so that’s the important thing.”
Cortes didn’t say what he hopes to do with his big win.
Friday’s Mega Millions drawing has a $79 million jackpot as an annuity, or $54.4 million if taken as cash. The winner would beat odds of 1 in 302 million, according to the lottery.
Players can buy Mega Millions tickets at lottery retailers and on NClottery.com.
