Unique sequence of Pick 4 lottery numbers gave a historic payout of $7.8 million
In an extraordinary number choice, more than 2,000 Carolina Pick 4 players matched 0-0-0-0 in a Saturday daytime drawing.
The drawing in 2017 produced 2,014 winning tickets that matched all four numbers.
Each took home up to $5,000 for their unoriginal selection, making history.
Many lucky winners stopped by lottery claim centers across the state to claim their winnings.
The North Carolina Education Lottery paid out a record $7.8 million because of the unusual set of numbers drawn.
The Pick 4 numbers came up as 0-0-0-0 in Saturday afternoon’s Pick 4 drawing, the most ever won in a single drawing.
The $7.8 million in prizes set a new record for prizes won in a single Pick 4 drawing.
The game’s top prize of $5,000 will go to players who hold one of the 1,002 winning $1 tickets purchased for the drawing.
A $2,500 prize will go to players who hold one of the 1,012 winning 50-cent tickets.
The four identical winning numbers are known as “Quads” among players of the Pick 4 game.
Quads are some of the most popular combinations of numbers played.
The previous record Pick 4 win happened on Aug. 11, 2012, when the numbers 1-1-1-1 paid out $7.5 million in prizes.
The odds of matching all four numbers in a Pick 4 drawing are 1 in 10,000.
The NC Education Lottery says that prizes can be claimed at one of their six regional offices.
The offices open at 9 a.m. Monday through Friday and close at 5 p.m. Winners have 180 days to claim their prizes.
And because of the large number of winners, players had extended waiting times to complete their claims if they chose to visit a regional office on the Monday and Tuesday.