One lucky man in North Carolina ended up winning $1,000,000 from his lottery ticket after, at first, thinking that the ticket he had gotten was a misprint.
Well, Travis Wilhelm of Statesville was wrong in a good way, finding out instead that he had won a massive jackpot from the local lottery and the Emerald 10 game.
North Carolina Man Thinks Ticket Is a Misprint – Needs Time to Believe His Luck
“I thought I was crazy,” the man said, and admitted to having checked the ticket time over and over again before he actually realized that his win was real. This is a standard response for most lottery winners, who are incredulous at their luck at first and struggle with the victory.
The actual odds of winning the lottery game are 1 in 3.8 million, giving Wilhelm a rather slim chance of success. He bought his ticket at a Fast Phil’s convenience store on Harmony Highway in Iredell County town of Harmony, and he has been a consistent player as well.
Wilhelm used the same numbers for every draw he participated in, and thus quickly realized that when the winning numbers were revealed, the prize was his for the taking. Regardless, he had to allow himself some time to comprehend his spot of good luck.
As to the way of claiming the reward, Wilhem has opted for the lump sum of $600,000, which amounts to $430,503 after taxes. An alternative would have been a $50,000 annuity payable over 20 years.
As to what Wilhelm would do next, a new car is high on his list, but being an avid lottery player, he might try his luck once again – after all, there are three more $1 million prizes to be claimed for Emerald 10’s game page.