Lee County man's lottery dream comes true with $1M win

RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) -- Ricky Nunnery Jr. of Sanford had a dream. A dream that he would win a massive lottery prize.

"I dreamed that I would hit big on the lottery," Nunnery said.

On Friday, that dream became reality when he won the first $1 million top prize in a new lottery game.

Nunnery said he decided to play the game after having a gut feeling.

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"Something just told me to play today," he said.

Nunnery bought a $10 $1,000,000 Triple Play ticket from Wink Mart on Deep River Road in Sanford.

"I'm tickled to death with this," Nunnery said.

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On Friday, he went to lottery headquarters in Raleigh to collect his prize. Given the choice of an annuity of $50,000 for 20 years or a lump sum of $600,000, he took the lump sum and, after required state and federal tax withholdings, took home $430,503.

He said he plans to use his winnings to pay bills and invest.

The $1,000,000 Triple Play game debuted in June with five top prizes of $1 million. Four $1 million prizes remain to be claimed.