Grandpa doesn’t usually dance. But lottery win on his birthday had him busting moves
A North Carolina grandfather doesn’t usually dance — but a six-figure lottery win had him busting moves.
“I started dancing around the coffee table,” prize winner Jeffrey Coats told the N.C. Education Lottery in a Jan. 10 news release.
It turns out, Coats bought the winning ticket on his birthday, giving him another reason to celebrate. He basked in the lucky moment after treating himself to a lottery ticket from Samir’s, a convenience store in Marion, officials said.
Coats tried his luck on the Blizzard Bingo game at a time when the jackpot prize exceeded $1 million.
“Since Coats bought a $5 ticket, he received 50% of the progressive jackpot,” resulting in a $515,731 prize, the lottery wrote in its news release.
Coats checked his lottery ticket the day after his birthday — Christmas Eve — and had trouble registering that he won big. Still, he “couldn’t help but dance,” officials said.
The moves caught the attention of his girlfriend, who reportedly said Coats “must have won something because he doesn’t dance.”
Coats kept $368,749 after taxes and said he hopes to use the prize money to help loved ones. He also will save for his grandkids to go to college.
The grandfather is from Marion, a McDowell County town roughly 35 miles east of the popular mountain destination of Asheville.
Coats isn’t the first lottery winner to bust a move. Another recent win in Maryland had a player’s family “singing and dancing,” McClatchy News reported.
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This story was originally published January 11, 2024 at 11:17 AM with the headline "Grandpa doesn’t usually dance. But lottery win on his birthday had him busting moves."
