A lotto jackpot winner has told how he scooped a USD 100,000 fortune by playing the numbers he got from a Chinese fortune cookie.
Phillip Vince Sr. – from the town of Hope Mills, North Carolina State, USA – has used the same numbers ever since he stopped for lunch at a Chinese restaurant six months ago.
After cracking open the cookie, Phillip saved some lucky numbers in the message and has used them ever since, he revealed.
He said in a statement obtained by Newsflash from North Carolina Education Lottery: “I have numbers I saved from my fortune cookie that I use.
“I’ve been playing them for about six months.”
Vince bought his winning USD 3 (GBP 2.4) Power Play ticket on the lottery app on Monday, 29th May.
His lucky numbers matched the numbers on four white balls and the red Powerball for USD 50,000 (GBP 40,300).
His prize then doubled to an astonishing USD 100,000 (GBP 80,573) when the 2X Power Player multiplier hit.
Vince said: “It’s crazy because Friday night I was only one number away from hitting the jackpot on Cash 5.”
Phil told how his win came in a week of special events – including his wedding anniversary and the birth of his first grandchild.
He added: “It’s definitely been a great week. And it’s a nice anniversary gift too.”
Vince collected the prize at lottery headquarters on Thursday, 1st June, and went home with USD 71,251 (GBP 57,419) after state and federal taxes.
He told North Carolina Lottery officials that he will use the money to “maybe splurge a little bit” and pay the bills, while saving the rest for retirement.
The lottery said: “Saturday’s Powerball drawing offers a USD 262 million [GBP 211 million] jackpot, or USD 133.2 million [GBP 107.3 million] in cash.
“The odds of winning a Powerball jackpot are 1 in 292 million.
“Powerball is one of six lottery games in North Carolina where players have the option of buying their tickets at a retail location or with Online Play through the lottery’s website or with the NC Lottery Official Mobile App.”
