Fayetteville mom’s snack stop for daughter leads to lucky $200,000 lottery win

Note: The accompanying video explains lottery odds in North Carolina.

RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) — A Fayetteville mom’s decision to buy her daughter a snack led to her lottery ticket purchase and a lucky $200,000 top prize, North Carolina lottery officials said Friday.

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Ebony Jacobs of Fayetteville got her lucky ticket from the PMG Short Stop on Ramsey Street in Fayetteville when she stopped to get her daughter some food, an N.C. Education Lottery news release said.

Jacobs spent $5 on a Mega Bucks ticket and returned to her truck to scratch off and reveal her possible winnings.

She quickly realized she won the $200,000 top prize in the game.

“I had to put my other glasses on to check it because I was just in shock,” Jacobs told lottery staffers. “My heart was racing.”

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Jacobs bought the ticket sometime in the last few weeks and picked up her winnings on Thursday at lottery headquarters in Raleigh.

“Playing the lottery is my happy place,” she said.

After required state and federal taxes, Jacobs took home $144,021.

She said she plans to use her winnings to buy a car and take a family vacation.

The Mega Bucks game began in June with five top prizes, with three of the top $200,000 prizes remaining as of Friday, the news release said.

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