North Carolina woman wins $519,318 on a $5 ticket
Christine Brown of Concord was on her way home from work when she bought a $5 Fast Play ticket and won $519,318, the NC Education Lottery said.
"It still hasn't hit me yet," Brown said, laughing.
She bought the Rockin' Bingo ticket at The Mills BP on Holden Avenue Southwest in Concord and handed it to the clerk to check. "She said 'You won the jackpot!'" Brown recalled.
She claimed the prize at lottery headquarters on Wednesday and took home $373,962 after withholding of 24% federal and 3.99% for North Carolina. She plans to pay bills, pay down her mortgage, and bring her children down to visit.
A $5 ticket wins half the jackpot
When Brown bought her ticket the progressive jackpot stood at about $1.04 million. She won half of it because Fast Play pays the jackpot by ticket price.
| Fast Play ticket price | Share of the jackpot | On the $1,038,636 jackpot Brown hit |
|---|---|---|
| $2 | 20% | $207,727 |
| $5 | 50% | $519,318 |
| $10 | 100% | $1,038,636 |
Every Fast Play game with a progressive feeds one shared jackpot. It starts at $20,000 and grows with each ticket sold. The lottery puts the odds of hitting it at 1 in 320,000.
The rule that matters for everyone else is what happens after a partial win. A $10 ticket that hits resets the jackpot to $20,000. A $2 or $5 ticket only takes its share, and the jackpot restarts from whatever is left. Brown's win left about $519,000 in the pot, and within days the lottery was advertising it at more than $561,000. By Monday it was listed near $600,000.
Ten jackpots since November, and most were partial
North Carolina's Fast Play jackpot has been hit 10 times since November 9, 2025, about once a month. Where the game name carries the price, the pattern is easy to follow.
| Date | Game | City | Won | Jackpot at the time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sept. 4, 2026 | $5 Rockin' Bingo | Concord | $519,318 | $1,038,636 |
| Aug. 8, 2026 | $2 Bingo Bucks | Wilmington | $181,882 | $909,410 |
| July 3, 2026 | $5 Rockin' Bingo | Greensboro | $532,891 | $1,065,782 |
| June 13, 2026 | Double Win | Pineville | $793,378 | |
| March 22, 2026 | $2 Bingo Bucks | Charlotte | $78,746 | $393,730 |
| March 19, 2026 | $2 Jackpot 7's | China Grove | $90,601 | $453,005 |
| Feb. 3, 2026 | $20 Jackpot 7's | Cary | $1,578,846 | |
| Dec. 20, 2025 | 10X the Cash | Denton | $161,929 | |
| Nov. 30, 2025 | 10X the Cash | Fayetteville | $138,213 | |
| Nov. 9, 2025 | $2 Bingo Bucks | Gastonia | $114,614 | $573,070 |
Four of the 10 wins came on $2 tickets. Those four players collected $465,843 between them from jackpots that added up to about $2.33 million, and the rest rolled forward. The run from July into September shows the chain at work. The Greensboro win in July left about $533,000 in the pot, it grew past $900,000 before a $2 ticket took a fifth in August, and it was back above $1 million when Brown hit it.
Cabarrus County received $16 million in lottery money for education last year, according to the lottery.
Sources
NC Education Lottery: Cabarrus County woman plans family visit after $519,318 jackpot win
Frequently Asked Questions
How much did Christine Brown win on Fast Play?
$519,318, half of a progressive jackpot that stood at about $1.03 million when she bought her $5 Rockin' Bingo ticket at The Mills BP on Holden Avenue Southwest in Concord. After state and federal withholding she took home $373,962. She plans to pay bills, pay down her mortgage, and bring her children to visit.
How much of the Fast Play jackpot does each ticket price win in North Carolina?
Under the NC Education Lottery's Fast Play rules, a $2 ticket that hits the jackpot receives 20% of it, a $5 ticket receives 50%, and a $10 ticket wins the whole jackpot. Every Fast Play game with a progressive feeds the same shared jackpot, which starts at $20,000.
What happens to the Fast Play jackpot after someone wins part of it?
It keeps what was left. When a $2 or $5 ticket wins a share, the jackpot resets to the money remaining, or $20,000 if that is higher, and keeps growing. After Brown's 50% win the jackpot started again from about $519,000 and was near $600,000 days later.
Jessie Jurado is a news writer who covers new scratch-off launches, state lottery guides, taxes on winnings, news, and much more. She joined ScratchCheck in 2026 and writes the site's state-by-state coverage.
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