N.C. man wins $4M lottery, joins friend in 'the millionaires' club'

Dec 16, 2014, 10:09 am (16 comments)

North Carolina Lottery

RUTHERFORDTON, N.C. — A lumber yard supervisor from Rutherfordton, North Carolina, is the first player in the state to win $4 million instantly playing the $200 Million Blowout game.

With his win, Henry Smith became the third Rutherford County player to scratch off a seven-figure lottery prize.

Rodger Keith Melton, of Spindale, won $2.6 million in 2013. Dan Royal, of Forest City, won $5.2 million in 2013 and happens to be a friend of Smith's, according to a news release from the North Carolina Lottery Education Lottery.

"I didn't believe my eyes," Smith said. "I never would have tried a $20 ticket if it wasn't for Dan. He came over the day I won, looked at my ticket, and said 'Yup. Welcome to the millionaires' club.'"

A $4 million prize in the game can be claimed in 20 annuity payments of $200,000 or a one-time payment of $2.4 million. Smith chose the lump sum, worth $1.6 million after required state and federal withholdings.

For prizes of $5,000 and greater, 25 percent federal tax and 5.8 percent state tax are automatically withheld.

Smith said that his prize money will make it possible for him to pay off his all his bills, including his mortgage, make home improvements and take a vacation.

He bought his winning ticket at the Express Stop on West Mills Street in Columbus in Polk County.

Three more top prizes of $4 million, 14 prizes of $1 million — and many other prizes — remain to be claimed in the $200 Million Blowout game.

WRAL

Comments

dallascowboyfan's avatardallascowboyfan

Congratulation Mr. Smith

ThatScaryChick's avatarThatScaryChick

Very cool! Two big winners in the same circle of friends.

lottoguysocal's avatarlottoguysocal

Pretty amazing story here!  Congrats to Mr. Smith!

Saylorgirl's avatarSaylorgirl

Congratulations Mr. Smith!

mypiemaster's avatarmypiemaster

Congrats!. Enjoy your upcoming vacation.

SammyJoe10's avatarSammyJoe10

I never buy NC scratch off tickets. There aren't enough large prizes to go around. And the few winning tickets out there are always sent to the SAME cities/towns/counties. This winner is the third person to win a jackpot since 2013 from Rutherford county. The last time someone from my county won a jackpot was in spring of 2012. And the county I live in has a much larger population. Coincidence? I think not. Either way, congrats to the winner!

TheGameGrl's avatarTheGameGrl

Can someone explain how a 4 million cash prize ends up being $1.6million  after taxes? that is almost 75% in taxes! (yes I understand fed is 38%, but where is the other 35% coming from?

LottoMetro's avatarLottoMetro

Quote: Originally posted by TheGameGrl on Dec 16, 2014

Can someone explain how a 4 million cash prize ends up being $1.6million  after taxes? that is almost 75% in taxes! (yes I understand fed is 38%, but where is the other 35% coming from?

According to the article, "A $4 million prize in the game can be claimed in 20 annuity payments of $200,000 or a one-time payment of $2.4 million."

TheGameGrl's avatarTheGameGrl

Quote: Originally posted by LottoMetro on Dec 16, 2014

According to the article, "A $4 million prize in the game can be claimed in 20 annuity payments of $200,000 or a one-time payment of $2.4 million."

Thank you Lotto Metro- Yet according to the ticket on the NC website it states "4 Million" ( it doesn't denote 4 Million annuity value). Thus my inquiry.

DoctorWhy's avatarDoctorWhy

Excellent, good for him!

VenomV12

Ha ha, that's pretty cool.

HaveABall's avatarHaveABall

Quote: Originally posted by TheGameGrl on Dec 16, 2014

Thank you Lotto Metro- Yet according to the ticket on the NC website it states "4 Million" ( it doesn't denote 4 Million annuity value). Thus my inquiry.

Yep, TheGameGrl, all the other states are guilty of this misleading practice too!  It's a shame that when we go to determine at these lottery headquarter's website it doesn't disclose anything to the effect of 'all jackpots over $1M are annuity values' without actually using the word ANNUITY.

However, the scratch-off and online tickets still sell ... so perhaps we gamblers are mainly a stupid or un-calculator, tax brackets driven lot.

Blush Dupe Alert

HaveABall's avatarHaveABall

Finally a case of a friend's monitory gain rubbing off in a BIG monitory way! Cheers

Get paid's avatarGet paid

Congrats Mr. Smith,tonight is powerball 2dollars an a wish.

Subscribe to this news story