RALEIGH, N.C. (CNN) — A trip to Raleigh to visit his sister and brother-in-law became a memorable vacation for Mark Hoti, of Greenacres, Florida after he won a $100,000 scratch-off prize, according to an NC Education Lottery news release.
Hoti, a banquet manager at a country club, stopped at the Sn Food Mart on Capital Boulevard in Raleigh to get food for a family cookout.
He bought one $300,000,000 Supreme Riches ticket along with a few other scratch-offs.
“I hesitated to buy the $30 ticket,” he said. “I was getting ready to walk away, but, I don’t know, for some reason I thought, ‘You know what. I’m up here. I’m on vacation. I’ll take it.’”
Once back at his sister’s house, Hoti scratched his tickets, starting with the lower priced tickets and saving his $30 ticket for last.
“I got to the dollar sign,” he said, “and I scratched it off a little, and I said, ‘Oh, I won $100.’”
When his sister asked to see the winning ticket “she goes, ‘Wait a minute. You still have to scratch!’ And she scratched it a little more, and that’s what revealed the other three zeros,” Hoti said. “It was kind of like flip out time.”
Hoti claimed his prize at lottery headquarters in Raleigh on Monday. After federal and state taxes, he’ll take $70,759 back home to Florida.
“I’m not 20 years old anymore, but I definitely felt like it that day,” Hoti said. “It was exciting to win that kind of money. It was kind of mind-blowing.”
As for what he plans to do with his winnings, Hoti said he’ll “probably use it on a lot of sensible things,” including paying off some bills.
The $300,000,000 Supreme Riches game launched in April 2019 with four top prizes of $10 million, six $1 million prizes and 15 $100,000 prizes. One $10 million prize, one $1 million prize and six $100,000 prizes remain to be won.
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