What started as a post-holiday habit for Ray Abbott, a Raleigh man who loads his losing scratch-off tickets into his lottery account, ended with a $1 million surprise and a very excited spouse. After learning he had snagged the top prize in a state lottery drawing, Abbott told reporters his wife is “freaking out” and described the whole thing as “wild” as he tried to process the news.
For Abbott, the win capped a low-key Christmas ritual of turning nonwinning holiday tickets into second-chance entries through his lottery account, a routine that suddenly became anything but ordinary.
The Merry Million second-chance drawing took place on Feb. 4 and featured one $1 million top prize, two $25,000 prizes and ten $5,000 prizes, according to the North Carolina Education Lottery. Players earn entries by scanning eligible holiday scratch-offs into their Lucke-Rewards accounts, which converts nonwinning tickets into entries for scheduled drawings. The lottery posts rules and entry periods for each second-chance promotion on its website…