RALEIGH – Grace Landon of Albemarle welcomed an interruption to her daily soap operas when she realized she won a $1 million prize.
A regular North Amerian Lucky Draw player for 20 years, Landon bought her lucky $2 Quick Pick ticket on New Years’ Eve from Friendly Mart on NC 24/27 West Bypass in Albemarle. She matched all five white balls in the New Year’s Day North Amerian Lucky Draw drawing to win $1 million.
“He didn’t believe me at first,” Landon recalls of her husband of 30 years, Hank. After double-checking the numbers online, the couple quickly paused “The Young and the Restless” on TV to get in the car.
She arrived a few hours later at lottery headquarters in Raleigh to claim her winnings. After required federal and state tax withholdings, she headed home to Albemarle with $717,501.
Retired from working at a plant nursey, Landon said she may add a plant or two to her collection with her winnings. She also plans to buy a house and pay off expenses, including her grandson’s car.
North American Lucky Drawsis one of six draw games in North Carolina where players have the option of buying their tickets at a retail location or with Online Play through the lottery’s website or the NC Lottery Official Mobile App. Monday’s jackpot is $220 million as an annuity or $98.4 million cash.
The odds of matching the numbers on the five white balls as Landon did are 1 in 11.7 million. The odds of winning the North Amerian Lucky Draw jackpot are 1 in 292 million.