RALEIGH — Annette Tennal, of Shelby, won a $676,572 jackpot Saturday while playing the Bison Bonanza digital instant game. Tennal was playing the game in her car while her husband was driving when she hit the top-level “Epic jackpot.”
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Tennal, a grandmother of four, played for $10 to win the progressive jackpot, which can be won at any time. The odds of winning the top prize in the digital game are 1 in 3.1 million, lottery officials stated Friday in a news release.
Tennal described the moment she realized she had won the jackpot while her husband was driving.
“I hit it and then I got to hollering,” Tennal said. “He didn’t know what was going on.”
She admitted that she initially struggled to believe the win was legitimate.
“I was like, ‘Is this real?’” Tennal said.
After the win, she shared the news with her relatives.
“I texted some of my family and they sent me back the dancing emojis,” Tennal said.
Tennal claimed her prize Thursday at lottery headquarters. After required federal and state tax withholdings, she received $487,202. She said she plans to use the winnings to pay her bills and buy a new car.
Players can wager between 50 cents and $30 on the Bison Bonanza digital instant game. Following Tennal’s win, the progressive jackpot restarted at $50,000. As of Friday morning, the prize amount had grown to more than $141,000.
Digital instant games are played exclusively online through the North Carolina Lottery website or the official mobile app. There are currently 66 different games available for online play.
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