Winning a lottery is one thing, but buying two identical lottery tickets and winning jackpots for both, is something entirely else.?
A man from the US state of North Carolina, who accidentally purchasedtwo identical tickets for the same lottery drawing has ended up winning two prizes of $25,000 a year for life, CBS 17 reported.?
Scotty Thomas, 49, of Fayetteville,?told North Carolina Education?Lottery?officials that he couldn¡¯t remember if he had already bought a ¡°Lucky for Life¡± lottery ticket for the drawing on Saturday, November 27.
"I was just lying in bed watching a basketball game on TV, and I couldn't remember if I filled it out or not. I went ahead and filled it out again, and the next morning my son asked why there were two different amounts listed. I realized, 'I think I filled it out twice'," Thomas told North Carolina Education Lottery.??
He purchased the two $2 lottery tickets online.?
The two identical tickets ended up winning him two $25,000 a year for life prizes, the lottery said.?
"When I realized I won, I had to lie down on the floor because I really just couldn't believe it," Thomas said. "It's just a blessing."
Thomas chose to take both of his prizes as one-time, lump-sum payments -- a total payout of $780,000.
He said that he plans to use the money to invest in his business, pay off bills, help his family and potentially buy a house.??
In October, a man in US' Virginia?bought 20 identical tickets for the same?lottery?drawing and won all 20 of them to bag a total prize of $100,000. (Rs 74 lakh).
After winning the Virginia?Lottery, William Newell told officials he usually buys his tickets from a nearby store.?But on this occasion, he bought all 20 online on October 23 for the first time ever.??
Newell bought 20 identical tickets for the Pick 4 drawing.?Newell selected the numbers 5-4-1-1. And when he matched the ones drawn by the officials, the combination turned out to be the exact same. He won $5,000 for each ticket.?"It feels good, no doubt about it," Newell said.??
The winner has not made any plans as to what he wants to do with his prize money.?
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