NC Woman Wins $700K Instant Jackpot “by Accident”

A woman from Cary, North Carolina, has won the biggest jackpot ever handed since the launch of the North Carolina Education Lottery’s digital offerings. What makes this win so special, however, is the fact that the woman won this jackpot through a sheer accident.

Cynthia Harris was playing Bison Bonanza, a digital instant game offered by the local lottery. However, she didn’t even realize that she was playing for real and thought that she was just experiencing the game’s demo mode.

It wasn’t until Harris’ $2 bet turned into a $736,874 jackpot that realized that she was actually playing for real.

I thought I was playing on Demo mode. I was like, “Wait how did this just happen.”

Cynthia Harris, lottery winner

Harris added that she feels blessed to have made such a lucky “mistake.” For context, her odds of winning the $736,874 progressive jackpot stood at 1 in 15.5 million.

After taxes, Harris’ prize stood at $526,866. She said that she would use some of the money to take care of her mother.  

As mentioned, this is the biggest prize ever handed since the North Carolina Education Lottery launched digital games. For context, the lottery’s first digital instant games became available to the public in November 2023.

Other Noteworthy Jackpot Wins

Speaking of jackpots, an Illinois gambler who was visiting the Four Winds Casino in New Buffalo, Michigan, recently won a life-changing $536,614 jackpot. The player in question was enjoying the Dollar Storm Wild Ninja slot game, which sports a progressive jackpot mechanic. The jackpot at the property has now been reset.

In the meantime, an elderly man from Michigan just won $2 million after purchasing a $2 Diamonds & Gold ticket. This was the maximum prize someone could win from the game.

A Florida Lotto player, on the other hand, won a life-changing $4.25 million jackpot after correctly matching all six lottery numbers. This came a few days after another player from Florida hit the $214.9 million Powerball jackpot.

Elsewhere, a ticket purchased in Dublin won the $4.1 million Irish National Lottery jackpot. Lottery officials urged players from the Irish capital to check their tickets and compare the winning numbers with the latest drawing.