Restless man tries to unwind by playing online NC lottery games and hits the jackpot

A restless man trying to unwind on a Saturday made matters worse when he played online lottery games and won a “gold jackpot.”

Michael Underwood says he was anything but relaxed after realizing the Multiplier Mania jackpot was $1,166,489.52, according to a North Carolina Education Lottery news release.

“I started shaking for about an hour,” he said in the release. “I was in disbelief. ... I never thought in a million years this would happen.”

Underwood, who beat odds of 1 in 20 million to win the prize, then called his son to share the news, and he was equally dubious.

“My son thought it was an April Fools’ Day joke,” Underwood said. “He had to check to make sure it wasn’t April yet.”

Underwood lives in Taylorsville and he made the 165-mile drive east to Raleigh on Thursday, March 20, to get his prize. The check came to $836,957 after taxes, officials said.

He told lottery officials he plans to invest the money.

Multiplier Mania is a “digital instant game” in which players wager between 50 cents and $30.

Underwood spent $2 on his ticket, officials said.

Once someone wins, the jackpot starts over at $80,000 and continues to grow until someone wins again.

“Underwood’s jackpot represents the second-largest win since the lottery introduced digital instants,” lottery officials said.

This story was originally published March 21, 2025 at 1:59 PM with the headline "Restless man tries to unwind by playing online NC lottery games and hits the jackpot."