Lottery winner says he is buying mom a house after scoring $500K jackpot

GREENVILLE, N.C. (WCTI) — A North Carolina manwoke up in the middle of the night on Wednesday, checked his Cash 5 numbers, and saw a $518,774 jackpot waiting for him.

“I’m going to buy my mom a house,” Randy Williams said. “She’s very happy.”

Williams, 48, said he couldn’t contain his excitement when he saw the amount he won.

“I just ran through the house hollering,” he said. “I woke my mom up.”

Williams said he told his mom right away after he won.

“She was jumping up and down,” he said. “She was so excited.”

Williams bought the $1 Quick Pick ticket in Wednesday’s drawing using Online Play on the lottery’s website.

“I always knew I was going to win,” Williams said. “It was just a gut feeling.”

He arrived at lottery headquarters Thursday to collect his prize and, after required state and federal tax withholdings, took home $369,627.

Cash 5 is one of six lottery games in North Carolina where players have the option of buying their tickets through a retail location or with Online Play. The odds of winning a Cash 5 jackpot are 1 in 962,598. Thursday’s jackpot is $100,000.

Ticket sales from draw games such as Cash 5 make it possible for the lottery to raise $2.5 million a day on average for education.