Man discovers his NC lottery ticket is worth 1,000 times more than he believed
A lottery player got confused — in the best kind of way — when he realized his $2,000 win was actually $2,000,000, according to the North Carolina Education Lottery.
Jose Analco Ramirez of Greensboro purchased the $20 scratch-off in the 100X The Cash game on Thursday, May 29, lottery officials said in a May 30 news release.
The odds of winning $2 million, the game’s top prize, are 1 in 1,853,616.
“I saw the two at first and thought it was $2,000,” Ramirez told lottery officials. “It was like a fairy tale turned into reality. ... It just didn’t feel real. It still doesn’t feel real.”
The ticket was purchased at a Circle K store on New Garden Road in Greensboro, about a 75-mile drive northwest from Raleigh.
Ramirez went to lottery headquarters in Raleigh on Friday, May 30, to collect his prize and had to make a tough choice between a smaller lump sum check or “an annuity of $100,000 over 20 years,” officials said.
“He chose the lump sum of $1.2 million and, after required tax withholdings, took home $861,006,” lottery officials said.
Ramirez told lottery officials he plans “to invest and possibly start a business.”
This story was originally published June 2, 2025 at 9:37 AM with the headline "Man discovers his NC lottery ticket is worth 1,000 times more than he believed."