Durham man scores $8M scratch-off win: ‘I hit the big one’

DURHAM, NC (WTVD) — Everett Harris of Durham had been feeling pretty good about his recent lottery tickets, going on a streak of winnings, but then he “hit the big one.”

On Monday, Harris won the first $8 million prize in the new $8 Million Money Maker lottery game.

“I was just going,” he said. “Every ticket seemed to be a winner.”

He bought the grand prize, which cost $50, at Tommy’s Mini Mart on South Miami Boulevard in Durham.

“I really couldn’t believe what I was seeing,” he said. “I hit the big one.”

Harris picked up his winnings Tuesday at lottery headquarters. Asked to choose an annuity of $400,000 a year over 20 years or a lump sum of $4.8 million, he chose the lump sum. After state and federal tax withholdings, he took home $3,444,014.

“It’s all luck and it was my lucky day yesterday,” Harris said.

He said he plans to use the money to buy a new truck, work on his house and pay some bills.

The $8 Million Money Maker game debuted in December with five top prizes of $8 million and 10 prizes of $100,000. Four $8 million prizes and nine $100,000 prizes remain to be claimed.

The only $100,000 prize won so far also happened in the Triangle. Jose Iglesias of Raleigh won that amount recently on the $8 Million Money Maker ticket.