Charlotte Woman Wins $250K From Holiday Scratch-Off Ticket
A Charlotte woman is celebrating a major win after purchasing a $20 holiday-themed scratch-off ticket that landed her a $250,000 top prize, according to the N.C. Education Lottery.
Officials said Christine Dominey, of Charlotte, bought the winning Winter Winfall ticket at the Publix on South Tryon Street in southwest Charlotte. She claimed her prize at lottery headquarters on Friday and took home $179,381 after required state and federal tax withholdings.
The Winter Winfall game launched in November with three top prizes of $250,000 available statewide. With Dominey’s win, only one top prize remains unclaimed, making the ticket one of the more competitive holiday scratch-offs currently on sale.
The lottery win marks another recent high-value scratch-off prize for North Carolina players heading into December. Scratch-off sales typically surge during the holiday season, and the state often sees multiple large wins across various games as the year wraps up.
But North Carolina isn’t the only place where players are cashing in heading into the holidays.
Recent Big Scratch-Off Wins in New Jersey
In New Jersey, lottery officials confirmed that a top-prize ticket worth $250,000 in the $250,000 Crossword scratch-off game was recently sold at the aptly named Lucky Deli, located at 91 Martin Luther King Drive in Hudson County. The winning ticket, sold on November 28, was the second of six available top-prize tickets in the Crossword game, which debuted in August.
Another top-prize ticket in the same game was sold earlier in October at a Fine Fare grocery store on Hamilton Street in the Franklin Township section of Somerset. That win marked the first $250,000 Crossword jackpot awarded since the game launched.
And New Jersey players have been on a roll beyond the top prizes. A second-prize ticket worth $20,000 was sold November 24 at a Stop N Shop on Kennedy Boulevard in Lakewood, lottery officials said. With tickets costing $10 each, the Crossword game has quickly become one of the state’s more popular scratch-off options this fall.
Growing Excitement Ahead of the Holidays
Big-ticket scratch-off wins often increase as the holiday season approaches, when more players — and gift givers — purchase lottery tickets. Both the North Carolina and New Jersey wins highlight the continued popularity of seasonal scratch-off games, which frequently offer limited-time prizes and special themes.
For Dominey in Charlotte, the timing couldn’t be better. Holiday scratch-offs like Winter Winfall tend to draw widespread interest as new games debut, each with their own top prizes, bonus play features, and early-season excitement.
While winners in both states are celebrating their unexpected good fortune, lottery officials remind all players that scratch-off games involve risk and should be played responsibly.
With one top prize left in North Carolina’s Winter Winfall game — and four still available in New Jersey’s $250,000 Crossword — players in both states may see even more big winners as the year draws to a close.
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