North Carolina Couple won $200k in NC Lottery

An Eastern North Carolina woman thought her lottery ticket was worth $20 but she wasn’t wearing her glasses.

When she got a better look, she realized she and her partner had scored a $200,000 prize, according to the N.C. Education Lottery.

“I think we were in shock when we found out,” Tamara Burnette said June 30 in a news release.

The couple’s good fortune started with a trip to a Publix store in Jacksonville, roughly 120 miles southeast of Raleigh and near the Camp Lejeune military base. While at the supermarket, officials said the pair spent $5 on a ticket for the Cash Payout scratch-off game.

“We were in the parking lot and Tammy kept saying, ‘I think we won big,’” her partner, John Kopp, told the N.C. Education Lottery.

It’s not the first time someone checking a lottery ticket was initially mistaken. Earlier in June, a North Carolina player thought he won $600 before finding out his lucky ticket was worth much more, McClatchy News reported.