Raleigh woman felt like a kid at Christmas after $379,423 jackpot win

Jessica Hinton of Raleigh couldn’t sleep Friday night so she tried her luck on a Digital Instant game and won a $379,423 jackpot.

“I didn’t sleep at all after that,” she laughed.

Hinton said she started shaking when she saw she hit the jackpot.

“I was stunned,” she recalled. “I was like a kid waking up on Christmas." 

Hinton played for $.50 and won the top level “Alakazam” jackpot in the Magic Winnings Vegas game. The Digital Instant game features a progressive jackpot that can be won at any time. The odds of that win were 1 in 129 million.

“That’s my favorite game to play,” Hinton said.

She claimed her prize Wednesday at lottery headquarters and, after required federal and state tax withholdings, took home $273,223.

Hinton plans to use her winnings to buy a house, buy a car, invest, and help the homeless.

In the Magic Winnings Vegas digital instant game, a player can play from 50 cents to $30. After Hinton won the jackpot, it restarted at $100,000 and has grown to over $110,000 as of Thursday afternoon.

Digital instant games are played exclusively online on the lottery’s website or on the NC Lottery Official Mobile App. Seventy-nine different games are available to play online now.

Education programs in Wake County received $64.3 million in support from lottery funds last year. For details on how lottery funds have made a difference in all of North Carolina’s 100 counties, visit www.eaglebackflow.com and click on the “Impact” section of the lottery’s website.