Lucky lottery player rings in the new year with big jackpot prize in North Carolina

A North Carolina lottery player started the new year off a winner after claiming a big jackpot prize, lottery officials said.

Gary Thomas won $496,217 when he matched all five numbers in the Dec. 1 drawing of the Carolina Cash 5 game, the North Carolina Education Lottery said in a Jan. 3 news release.

More than 19,000 people also won in the Dec. 1 drawing, with prizes ranging from $1 to $250, according to the lottery.

Lottery officials said Thomas purchased his winning ticket online and claimed his prize Jan. 2 at the lottery headquarters.

Each Cash 5 play cost $1, and the odds of winning the jackpot are 1 in 962,598, the lottery said.

The next drawing is Jan. 3, and the current jackpot estimate is $110,000, according to the website.

This story was originally published January 3, 2025 at 6:01 PM with the headline "Lucky lottery player rings in the new year with big jackpot prize in North Carolina."

Natalie Demaree

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Natalie Demaree is a service journalism reporter covering Mississippi for McClatchy Media. She holds a master’s in journalism from Columbia Journalism School and a bachelor’s in journalism and political science with a specialization in African and African American Studies from the University of Arkansas.