Finding $20 in a gas station parking lot seemed like a good enough sign for Jerry Hicks of North Carolina to buy a scratch-off lottery ticket last month. As it turns out, his instincts were correct – that purchase got him $1 million.
It was the evening of Tuesday, Oct. 22 when Hicks, a master carpenter from Banner Elk, spotted the cash, according to the NC Education Lottery .
“I found $20 in the parking lot outside the Speedway,” on N.C. 105 in Boone, he explained. It inspired him to buy a scratch off ticket, but they didn’t have the one he usually picked. That led Hicks to buy a fated Extreme Scratch Off ticket.
While Hicks could have decided to receive the prize as an annuity of $50,000 annually over the next 20 years, he chose a lump sum of $600,000 instead. After state and federal taxes, he took home $429,007.
As for his plans for the money, Hicks knew exactly what he was going to invest his luck in first: a buffet feast
“We are going to head straight to Golden Corral and eat everything they’ve got,” he laughed. After that, he’ll use the funds to kick-start his retirement after nearly 60 years working as a carpenter and to help out his children.