Lottery player’s inability to sleep leads to life-changing jackpot in North Carolina

A woman dealing with sleeplessness learned in the best of ways that online lottery games aren’t the best way to deal with insomnia, according to the North Carolina Education Lottery.

Tracy Bell of Banner Elk says she frequently plays Wheel of Bonuses late into the night due to an inability sleep, lottery officials said in a March 13 news release.

On Sunday, March 9, the habit led her to win a $466,415 jackpot.

Try getting to sleep after that.

“It was pretty late, so I thought I was dreaming,” Bell said in the release. “It was pretty amazing.”

She claimed the prize Thursday, March 13, and it came to $334,656 after state and federal tax withholdings, officials said.

Her win came on a $10 ticket, which secured the digital game’s top level, “Epic jackpot,” officials said. Odds of winning the top prize are 1 in 3.1 million.

Bell intends to get a new car with some of her winnings, according to the release.

She told lottery officials the leftover money will go toward helping her community in western North Carolina, which suffered flooding and landslides in September during Tropical Storm Helene.

“Everyone around here has been through a lot lately,” Bell said in the release. “I want to help some friends who lost a lot in the storm.”

Wheel of Bonuses “digital instant game” can be played with tickets ranging from 50 cents to $30. Jackpots start at $50,000 and grow until someone wins.

Banner Elk is about a 120-mile drive northwest from Charlotte.

This story was originally published March 14, 2025 at 9:01 AM with the headline "Lottery player’s inability to sleep leads to life-changing jackpot in North Carolina."