Angel Navarrete, a Georgia man from Athens, walked away with a $2 million lottery prize after a $20 scratch-off he bought while out with his parents turned out to be a golden ticket. He chose a lump-sum payout and collected $864,126 once state and federal tax withholdings were taken out.
Navarrete bought the $20 100X The Cash ticket at The Local Market on U.S. 64 East in Hayesville, North Carolina, according to WSB-TV. He had been playing the scratch-off game with his parents over the weekend, and his family ended up buying several tickets during the outing.
When he uncovered the game's $2 million top prize, Navarrete said he questioned whether the win was even real. He later described his family as overjoyed and said they found the win hard to believe.
Claiming the Prize in Raleigh
Navarrete visited North Carolina Lottery headquarters on Thursday to formally claim his prize. Under state rules, prizes of $100,000 or more must be claimed in person at lottery headquarters in Raleigh, with claimants first starting the process online before waiting for a follow-up notification, per the NC Education Lottery.
He chose to take the $2 million prize as a lump sum rather than an annuity. Had he opted for the annuity, the payout structure would have delivered $100,000 per year for 20 years, the report notes. Instead, after required withholdings, Navarrete received $864,126, which he said he plans to use to pay bills, invest and save.
One of the Last Big Prizes in the Game
The North Carolina Education Lottery reported that 100X The Cash launched in January 2025 and included four $2 million top prizes in total. Navarrete's win marked the final $2 million top prize claimed in the game, and the lottery said it would begin the process of ending 100X The Cash as a result.
The odds of landing that top prize were long. According to the lottery, the top-prize odds in 100X The Cash stood at 1 in 1,540,530, a figure also cited by charlotteobserver.com in its coverage of the game.
Not the Only Big Winner This Year
Navarrete isn't the only North Carolina player to cash in big on 100X The Cash recently. In August, Jennifer Kleinendorst of Willow Spring won a separate $2 million top prize from the same scratch-off game, after buying her ticket for $20 at a convenience store in Fuquay-Varina, the outlet reported.
Kleinendorst's win came with an unusual twist: she had already won a $250,000 grand prize in June through the 2025 Multiply The Cash Second Chance draw game, before landing her second major lottery payday just two months later.
