A man in North Carolina won the lottery twice the same day after accidentally buying an extra ticket from the state lottery
Lucky for Life.
Scotty Thomas, 49, believed he made a mistake when filling out the first ticket and, to be sure, completed the second through the lottery app on his phone using the same numbers.
Each ticket cost him two dollars.
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"I was lying in bed watching a basketball game on TV and I couldn't remember whether or not I had filled it out," Thomas told the North Carolina state lottery.
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The next morning his son made him realize that he had filled out both tickets and Thomas understood that he had made a mistake.
The surprise came when after Saturday's draw, the man received two emails notifying him that he was a double winner.
"When I realized I had won, I had to lie on the ground because I really couldn't believe it,"
said Thomas, who operates a garbage collection truck.
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The man claimed the award on Monday and decided to receive both awards as one-time payments of $ 780,000 in total.
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The state lottery gave him the option of receiving annual payments of $ 50,000 for the rest of his life, but Thomas chose the more immediate option to invest in his business, pay bills and possibly buy a home.
According to the lottery, after federal and state tax withholdings, the man took home $ 551,851.