Check your Powerball lottery tickets. Ten bought in NC took home big prizes

Someone who bought a lottery ticket in California is now the very lucky winner of a record $2.04 billion jackpot.

But North Carolina produced a few big winners in the Powerball drawing, including a $1 million prize, the N.C. Education Lottery said in a news release Tuesday.

North Carolina lottery officials said that 10 winning tickets in the Powerball drawing resulted in $1.5 million in prizes, including a $100,000 prize, eight prizes of $50,000 each and $1 million. A total of 343,323 tickets in North Carolina won prizes, according to the N.C. Education Lottery.

The drawing was delayed until Tuesday morning to allow for extra time for security protocols, national media reported.

The lucky $1 million winning ticket that matched all five white balls was sold in Wilmington at the Gas Center on South College Road. It’s one of only 22 won in the country.

The nine winners came from cheap tickets.

▪ The $100,000 win came from a $3 Power Play ticket that matched four white balls and the Powerball to win $50,000. The prize doubled to $100,000 when a 2X multiplier was drawn. It was sold at a Walmart on Benvenue Road in Rocky Mount.

▪ The eight $50,000 wins came from $2 tickets that matched four white balls and the Powerball. The odds of matching numbers in four white balls and the Powerball are 1 in 913,000.

The lucky wins happened in Charlotte through Online Play on the lottery’s website and in stores in the towns and cities of Gatesville, Winston-Salem, Statesville, Belmont, Fayetteville, Morehead City and Franklin.

As for the coveted billion-dollar jackpot, that ticket was sold in Altadena, California.

Since Aug. 6, when the jackpot started at $20 million, North Carolinians have won a total of three $1 million prizes, seven $150,000 prizes, six $100,000 prizes, and 39 prizes of $50,000 each.

“What a run for our Powerball game,” said Mark Michalko, executive director of the N.C. Education Lottery, in a news release. “Congratulations to all those who won prizes. All that play resulted in millions more for education that will support our schools and students this year.”

The winners have 180 days from the drawing to claim their prize.