Lottery player knew she hit jackpot ‘right away’ — but waited weeks to claim NC prize
A lottery player knew she hit the jackpot “right away” — but she didn’t claim her prize for weeks.
That’s because the North Carolina prize winner waited to come forward on her birthday, giving her an extra reason to celebrate.
“I wanted this to be the big ta-da,” Janice Gibbs told the N.C. Education Lottery. “I’m having a great birthday.”
Gibbs claimed her prize in mid-January, almost a month after she won $110,000 in a Dec. 23 drawing. She was at the Fairway One Stop convenience store in Greensboro when she spent $1 on her lucky ticket, lottery officials wrote in a news release.
While making picks for the Carolina Cash 5 game, she used the birthdays of her family members. So, she immediately recognized her ticket numbers were the same ones picked in the drawing.
“I checked it and I knew right away that I won,” Gibbs told lottery officials. “It was an unexpected blessing.”
The winner, who lives in Greensboro, beat 1-in-962,598 odds to score the rolling jackpot game’s top prize. She kept $78,929 after taxes.
“I’m going to do something special for myself,” Gibbs said, per the release.
It isn’t the first time a lottery player has gotten richer in time for their special day. Another North Carolina winner scored an “early birthday present” and planned to spend some of his prize money on golf clubs, McClatchy News reported in May.
This story was originally published January 14, 2025 at 2:15 PM with the headline "Lottery player knew she hit jackpot ‘right away’ — but waited weeks to claim NC prize."
