Lottery player ‘talks to her phone’ during online game — and hits jackpot in NC
A lottery player relied on her “unique strategy” — and it led to a huge jackpot win.
The woman, who splits her time between Florida and North Carolina, “talks to her phone” when she buys lottery tickets online.
“You’ve got to talk to it and tell it you’re going to win,” Shirley Harvey told the N.C. Education Lottery in an Aug. 14 news release. “And when you win, you say, ‘Thank you.’”
Harvey’s approach paid off when she won $865,811 on a Quick 6 Extra ticket. To score a top prize in the progressive jackpot game, an online lottery player must match six numbers, rules show.
It turns out, Harvey beat 1-in-25.8 million odds to hit the jackpot. She spent $2 on her lucky ticket while visiting family in Hendersonville, a roughly 25-mile drive south from Asheville, lottery officials wrote on the social media platform X.
“I like to play on my phone at home,” the prize winner said. “That day it was raining so I was sitting on my couch playing.”
Harvey — who lives in Naples, Florida — kept $621,260 after taxes. Now, she hopes to buy her own property in North Carolina.
“I never imagined winning anything like this,” Harvey said. “It was unbelievable.”
This story was originally published August 14, 2025 at 3:08 PM with the headline "Lottery player ‘talks to her phone’ during online game — and hits jackpot in NC."
