Guadalupe Hernandez Aguilar of Seven Springs took a chance on the new 50X The Cash scratch-off ticket and won the first $1 million top prize in the game.
Aguilar bought the lucky $10 ticket at the Sunoco on Ramsey Street in Fayetteville.
He had a choice of an annuity prize paid out as $50,000 a year over 20 years, totaling $1 million, or he could choose a lump sum of $600,000. Aguilar chose the lump sum when claiming his prize at lottery headquarters in Raleigh on Friday. After required tax withholdings, he took home $388,500.
50X The Cash launched this month and offers even more ways to multiple your winnings. Players can win $1 million instantly, as Aguilar did, or win up to $100,000 by entering their 50X The Cash tickets into second-chance drawings. Three $1 million prizes remain to be claimed instantly and four $100,000 prizes can be won in second-chance drawings. The entry deadline for the first drawing is March 31.
Ticket sales from scratch-off games make it possible for the lottery to raise more than $700 million a year for education.
