Lincoln County Woman Used Family Birthdays To Win $120,000 Jackpot

RALEIGH (News Release) –Melinda Boyce of Denver changed her strategy when playing Cash 5 and that decision paid off with a $120,000 jackpot win.

“I used to do Quick Picks but I’ve been using family birthday numbers since January after seeing that someone else won doing that,” she said.

Boyce said she first learned she won when she got a notification in her email.

“I started to freak out,” she laughed. “I kept saying, ‘My numbers came up, my numbers came up.’”

Boyce bought her lucky $1 ticket using Online Play in the May 22 drawing. The odds of matching numbers on all five white balls are 1 in 962,598.

She claimed her prize at lottery headquarters Wednesday in Raleigh and, after required federal and state tax withholdings, took home $85,800.

“This is just insane,” she said when she received her big check.

Boyce plans to use her winnings to pay some bills and save the rest.

Cash 5 is one of six lottery games in North Carolina where players have the option of buying their tickets at a retail location or with Online Play through the lottery’s website or with the NC Lottery Official Mobile App. Thursday’s jackpot is $100,000.