73-year-old man mixes up his usual lottery routine in NC — and it pays off big time
.jpg "When the man went home to tell his wife, he said she didn’t believe him.")
A North Carolina man decided to take his chances with a different lottery game and it ended up winning him the jackpot.
Winston-Salem resident James Zech usually buys $3 or $5 scratch-offs, but this time he had an “urge” to try something new, he told lottery officials in a Nov. 8 news release.
The 73-year-old picked out a $10 Cashword ticket at a Food Lion in Clemmons, lottery officials said.
“For some reason I just decided to try a $10 one,” he told lottery officials. “I like playing crosswords in real life.”
It won him $500,000 — the last top prize in the game, according to lottery officials.
“I went home and told my wife we won a half-million dollars but she didn’t believe me,” Zech told lottery officials.
Eventually, the couple called their daughter to break the news.
The family wants to go out for a nice Thai dinner and may plan a family vacation to the beach with the winnings, Zech told lottery officials.
Zech took home $355,053 after taxes, according to the North Carolina Education Lottery.
This story was originally published November 9, 2022 at 8:45 AM with the headline "73-year-old man mixes up his usual lottery routine in NC — and it pays off big time."
