NC Education Lottery Unveils Winner of $4M Prize

The North Carolina Education Lottery has announced that a player from Charlotte has won a life-changing $4 million prize from one of the lottery’s scratch-off games. The lucky woman visited the lottery to collect her winning, revealing that she bought the ticket on a whim after the end of her shift.

The First Carolina Black Premier Top Prize Has Been Claimed

The NC Education Lottery revealed the winner as Swati Amin, a woman from Charlotte. Amin won her incredible prize from the lottery’s Carolina Black Premier game, which debuted earlier this year.

The $30 Carolina Black Premier scratch-off tickets hit the market in July, offering three top prizes of $4 million, as well as 6 secondary prizes of $100,000. Amin’s prize is notably the first grand prize to be won. Officials noted that there are two more top prizes of $4 million remaining, as well as 6 prizes of $100,000.

Amin purchased her lucky ticker from BJ’s Food Mart on Michigan Avenue in Asheville – a store she sometimes works at. As mentioned, Amin bought her ticket shortly after finishing one of her shifts.

While one commenter under the official announcement suggested that Amin might have had an advantage by being a store worker, the NC Education Lottery reassured them that the winning tickets are printed and distributed at random.

Amin visited the lottery HQ on Friday to collect her prize. She was presented with two options – an annuity of $200,000 for 20 years or a lump sum of $2.4 million. Like many lottery players, the Charlotte woman opted to take the latter option. After state and federal tax withholdings, she took home $1,722,008.

NC Player Recently Won the Cash 5 Jackpot

Speaking of winners in North Carolina, a man recently beat odds of 1 in 962,598 to match all five Cash 5 balls and win the $1,022,795 jackpot. What made the win extra special is the fact that this was the first Cash 5 jackpot to exceed the $1 million mark since August 2024.

In the meantime, the Mega Millions jackpot has continued to go unclaimed, now reaching $965 million with a one-time cash payout of $445.3 million.