AVERY COUNTY, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — A Banner Elk woman wants to give back to her community after winning over $400,000 playing a digital instant game.
“Everyone around here has been through a lot lately,” she said. “I want to help some friends who lost a lot in the storm.”
Tracey Bell played a $10 ticket on Sunday and won the top level ‘Epic jackpot’ in the Wheel of Bonuses game. The odds of that win are 1 in 3.1 million.
In the Wheel of Bonuses digital game, a player can play from 50 cents to $30. After Bell won the jackpot, it restarted at $50,000 and has grown to over $104,000 as of Thursday morning.
Bell said she has trouble sleeping, so she likes playing the game at night.
“It was pretty late, so I thought I was dreaming,” Bell laughed, recalling her winning moment.
She claimed her prize Thursday at the lottery headquarters and, after required federal and state tax withholdings, took home $334,656.
Bell says in addition to helping with the Helene relief efforts, she will look at buying a new car.
