Huge win leaves NC lottery player’s wife restless. ‘Couldn’t go back to sleep’
A lottery player won a prize so big, it left his wife restless.
“She couldn’t believe it,” winner Thomas Payne told the North Carolina Education Lottery. “She couldn’t go back to sleep.”
Now, the couple hopes to use some of the prize money to travel to Portugal, lottery officials wrote Aug. 1 in a news release.
Payne won $100,000 after stopping at a Circle K convenience store before work. He tried his luck on a $50 scratch-off ticket in Jacksonville, an area home to Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune and a roughly 120-mile drive southeast from Raleigh.
Payne was at his job when he checked the ticket he bought for the $10 Million Spectacular game. He called his wife to tell her how much it was worth.
“It feels pretty good,” Payne told lottery officials.
The winner, who lives in Jacksonville, kept $71,764 after taxes. In addition to planning for his European trip, he wants to save money and pay bills.
It’s not the first time someone’s commute has taken a lucky turn. Another North Carolina lottery player bought a winning ticket on his way to work, leaving his wife in disbelief, McClatchy News reported in 2023.
This story was originally published August 1, 2025 at 11:06 AM with the headline "Huge win leaves NC lottery player’s wife restless. ‘Couldn’t go back to sleep’."
