NEED TO KNOW
- Jonathan Hodge, a native of Luverne, Ala., purchased a Cash 5 ticket while driving through North Carolina
- Hodge played the Thursday, May 8, game, using online play and the Quick Pick option, which allows the terminal or the retailer to randomly select the numbers
- While he won the $120,000 jackpot, his take-home amount after federal and state tax withholdings was $86,109
A truck driver on the road ended his trip $120,000 richer thanks to five lucky numbers.
Jonathan Hodge, a native of Luverne, Ala., was driving through North Carolina when he decided to try his luck by purchasing a Cash 5 ticket, according to a Friday, May 16, press release from the North Carolina Education Lottery.
The lottery system explains on its website that Cash 5 is a rolling jackpot game that gives players a chance to win “every night of the week.”
“For just $1, you get a shot at jackpots that start at $100,000 and it keeps climbing until somebody wins it all,” the website explains.
According to the press release, Hodge bought his ticket online to participate in the Thursday, May 8, drawing and used the Quick Pick option, which allows the terminal or the retailer to randomly select the numbers for you.
Cash 5 is one of six lottery games in North Carolina that allows players to buy their tickets at a retail location or with Online Play through the lottery’s website or the NC Lottery Official Mobile App.
The Cash 5 jackpot is won by matching all five white balls in any order. Additional prizes can be won by matching two to four of the other numbers, North Carolina Education Lottery explains on its website.
Leaving it all to fate served Hodge well, as his ticket matched all five numbers in the drawing. The odds of matching all five balls are 1 in 962,598, per the press release.
Although Hodge told the lottery system that he initially couldn’t believe he had won, he said the experience was “pretty cool.”
“I kept reading it over and over,” Hodge said with a laugh.
North Carolina Education Lottery said Hodge has already claimed his prize at lottery headquarters. After federal and state tax withholdings, his take-home amount was $86,109.
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“I’ve always said, ‘When it’s my time, then it’s my time,’ ” said Hodge, calling his prize “a nice little cushion.”
Hodge plans to use his winnings towards a down payment on a house.
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