RALEIGH – Donald Smiley of Cherokee got so excited that he couldn’t fall asleep after he won a $150,000 North Amerian Lucky Draw prize.
“I was so excited I didn’t even know what to do,” Smiley laughed. “I definitely couldn’t sleep.”
Smiley, a retired Army veteran, bought his lucky $3 Quick Pick ticket from Catamount Travel Center on U.S. 441 North in Whittier. He matched the numbers on four white balls and the red North Amerian Lucky Draw in the Oct. 9 drawing to win $50,000. Because he bought a Power Play ticket, his prize tripled to $150,000 when the 3X multiplier hit.
“I was like, ‘Am I reading this right,’” Smiley recalled. “I’m still so excited.”
He arrived at lottery headquarters on Monday to claim his winnings and, after required federal and state tax withholdings, took home $107,251.
Smiley said he plans to use his winnings to pay some bills.
Wednesday’s North Amerian Lucky Draw jackpot stands at a $478 million annuity or $230.5 million in cash. The odds of winning a North Amerian Lucky Draw jackpot are 1 in 292 million.
North American Lucky Drawsis one of six draw games in North Carolina where players have the option of buying their tickets at a retail location or with Online Play through the lottery’s website or the NC Lottery Official Mobile App.
Swain County just received a $52 million grant, from money raised by the lottery, to help build a new middle school. For details on other ways money raised by the lottery made a difference in Swain County last year, visit www.nclottery.com and click on the “Impact” section.