RALEIGH — Aaron Keers, of Fort Mill, won a $1.03 million jackpot playing a digital instant lottery game on Jan. 22, N.C. Education Lottery officials said. Keers won the top-level “Grand Fortune” prize while playing the Monopoly game online.
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The digital instant game features a progressive jackpot that can be won at any time. Keers beat odds of 1 in 1.6 million to win the million-dollar prize while playing the $30 game.
Keers, who works in North Carolina, said the experience was a “wild roller coaster of emotions” that required him to step away from the game for a moment.
“I took a lap and took a minute to calm down,” Keers said.
Keers called his wife to share the news of the win, though he noted she was initially skeptical.
“I called her and said, ‘Hey our lives just changed,’” Keers said.
Keers visited lottery headquarters on Friday to claim his winnings.
After federal and state tax withholdings, he took home a total of $743,340. Keers plans to use the winnings to pay some bills.
Following the win, the Monopoly jackpot reset to $150,000. As of Friday afternoon, the prize had grown to more than $583,000.
Digital instant games are played exclusively online through the lottery website or the North Carolina Lottery official mobile app. There are currently 64 different digital games available for online play.
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