Three strokes of luck within four years all occurred at the same retailer for one player

By Kate Northrop

CONCORD, N.C. — A North Carolina man had his third stroke of luck this Labor Day when he won his third major scratch-off prize, having bought every one of those winning tickets at the same lottery retailer.

It's very possible that Sam's Mini Stop on Old Charlotte Road in Concord will be seeing more foot traffic from lottery players in the near future. After all, the convenience store sold Terry Splawn his third winning scratch-off ticket within the span of four years.

Splawn is no stranger to good fortune. In April 2017, his lucky streak began when he bought a ticket from the North Carolina Lottery's "Millionaire Bucks" instant game from Sam's Mini Stop and won a $1 million prize.

He visited the same store two years later in March 2019 and purchased a "$150 Million Cash Explosion" ticket for $20, which netted him yet another $1 million prize.

But third time's the charm, and Lady Luck was once again on his side. The Concord resident picked out a $20 "Premier Cash" ticket at Sam's Mini Stop and walked away with one more big prize, this time worth $100,000.

"It was on Labor Day!" Splawn told the Lottery. "So, it was a really nice surprise for the day."

The triple-lucky player visited Lottery headquarters in Raleigh and claimed his prize, which amounted to $70,756 after federal and state taxes.

Splawn took home the first $100,000 second prize out of eight available in the "Premier Cash" game, which launched in August. There are three out of four top prizes of $2 million remaining, as well as 37 out of 50 third prizes of $20,000 left to claim.

The game that awarded his second win, "$150 Million Cash Explosion," is also still active. While there are no second and third prizes of $1 million and $100,000 remaining, respectively, there is just one more top prize of $4 million out there, as well as numerous other prizes of $10,000 and below. "$150 Million Cash Explosion" was launched in October 2018.

Each of Splawn's consecutive wins took place two years apart. While winning the lottery is truly random, who knows – perhaps in another two years he and his favorite retailer will make headlines once again.

"It's unbelievable," the winner said in a press release. "It certainly is fun to win."