North Carolina man was beside himself after finding out he won over $200,000 from the Keno game, according to the North Carolina Lottery.
Richard Tyler Jr. of Fayetteville won $212,500 in the Carolina Keno game, which is the largest prize ever won. Tyler told North Carolina Lottery he needed a moment to calm down when he found out he had won the top prize.
“I had to sit down for a few minutes just to breathe,” Tyler recalled to the Lottery.
On Feb. 6, Tyler purchased a $20 Carolina Keno ticket and played for 10 shares at Gray’s Creek BP in Fayetteville, the Lottery said. He is a regular Keno player at Gray’s Creek BP, so much so that the female workers have nicknamed him Keno.
Tyler managed to match nine of the 10 numbers and won a decent amount of $4,250. However, the excitement didn’t end there as the 5X multiplier was drawn, and the prize increased to $212,500.
“When I saw how many I matched, I was like, ‘Oh my gosh,'” Tyler told the Lottery. “I got kind of nervous.”
He claimed his prize on Feb. 9 at the lottery headquarters. After the required federal and state tax withholdings, he took home $151,943.