NC mom’s $2 lottery ticket hits a top prize in popular game. ‘I just had that feeling’
Despite long odds, a North Carolina mom just knew she was about to win a top lottery prize, officials with the N.C. Education Lottery said Wednesday.
So she plunked down $2 for a Lucky for Life ticket through Online Play on the N.C. lottery mobile app, according to a lottery news release.
The ticket ended up matching all five white balls in the March 28 drawing, scoring her the second-highest money payout in the popular nightly game, officials said.
The winning numbers were 9, 15, 29, 38 and 39. The Lucky Ball was 16.
“I just had that feeling,” Huntersville resident Asiiat Urusova said when she claimed her prize of $25,000 a year for life at lottery headquarters in Raleigh. “I knew it was coming.”
Husband thought something was wrong
Urusova beat odds of 1 in 1.813 million, according to the Lucky for Life page on N.C. Lottery.com.
The highest prize in the game is $1,000 a day for life, won by matching all of the white balls plus the Lucky Ball. Those odds are an even more astronomical 1 in 30.821 million.
“My heart was beating so quickly,” Urusova said. “I never felt that feeling before.”
The mother of four immediately called her husband, who was asleep.
“I think he was afraid something was wrong,” she said.
Pay bills, maybe buy a car
Winners can choose between $25,000 a year for the rest of their lives and a $390,000 lump sum. Urusova took home $278,857 after choosing the lump sum, officials said.
She plans to pay some bills and possibly buy a Toyota Prius, according to the lottery.
Lucky for Life and tickets in five other N.C. lottery games are available at lottery retailers and Online Play.
