Man killing time before appointment wins life-changing cash in online NC lottery game

Getting a car serviced can be tedious, but a North Carolina man won big in the process when he started killing time with an online lottery game.

Andrzej Kielbon won enough money to replace his car altogether. He lives in Matthews, just southeast of Charlotte.

“I was getting ready to go to the dealership,” Kielbon told N.C. Education Lottery officials. “I woke up a little too early. I would’ve never played if I didn’t get up early.”

Before heading to the car repair shop, Kielbon spent $2 to play Bison Bonanza, which has a progressive jackpot that starts at $50,000 and grows until someone wins.

It was at $379,747 when Kielbon got lucky on Aug. 22.

He beat odds of 1 in 15.5 million, lottery officials said.

“I just play for fun,” Kielbon said in the release. “I didn’t think it was real because I was still half asleep.”

Kielbon went to lottery headquarters in Raleigh Aug. 23 to claim his prize and it came to $271,520 after federal and state withholdings.

He plans to replace his car with one that is electric and vacation in Hawaii, officials said.

Kielbon is the second Mecklenburg County man to win big in Bison Bonanza in 2024. Osama Lafi of Charlotte also wagered $2 before going to bed and won $668,911 on June 28, lottery officials said in a news release.

And by coincidence, he also planned to buy a new car.

Plays in Bison Bonanza cost from 50 cents to $30 on the lottery’s website or on the N.C. Lottery Official Mobile App, officials said.

This story was originally published August 26, 2024 at 11:55 AM with the headline "Man killing time before appointment wins life-changing cash in online NC lottery game."