The sun-burned captain of a fishing boat stopped to buy a drink Tuesday at a convenience store in Wilmington and ended up winning $1 million, according to the N.C. Education Lottery.
Austin Eubank, a husband and father, said in a release that the win is all the more surprising given he "doesn't normally play the lottery."
Eubank says he was just feeling lucky Tuesday and decided to gamble on a $20 Mega Cash ticket at the Speedway on Carolina Beach Road in Wilmington. He scratched off the card in the store's parking lot and says he started shaking as the numbers added up.
"It's fun to dream about, but you never expect it to you happen to you," he said in a news release.
Eubank "immediately called his wife," but made sure to first ask where she was before blurting it out.
"I could tell something was off from his voice," Margaret Eubank said in a release. "He told me, 'I just walked into the gas station and bought a scratch-off.' I was kind of annoyed at first because of course he won something. So I asked him how much, not expecting anything big. When he said, 'I think a million,' I couldn't believe it."
The couple claimed the prize Wednesday and opted for a $600,000 lump sum, which was whittled to $424,506 after tax witholdings, lottery officials said.
Austin Eubank said he didn't have anything special in mind for spending the money, but his wife told lottery officials she knew instantly their first purchase would be a fishing pole for their 14-month-old son, Baylor.
"We are a family who loves to fish," she said in the release.
Not too shabby on a Tuesday for having a "feeling"...... Congrats Austin. Enjoy your wealth and the holiday weekend
🔮I see a bigger boat in his future too
Congrats!
Nice he won the big prize on a very old NC scratch-off!
I know my friend bought ENTIRE books, him and his wife just "went for it"$$$splurge on the books!
They did it 2x twice in the month of April...and May this year and i recall won in each book,
a nice amount over a couple of grand, in 1 booklet. Almost $2500.00 Mega-Cash booklet."
The other booklet produced for him and his wife lil over a cool G' $$$ 1300.00
They both were happy with that. So, congrats sir. Utilize it wisely.
Congratulations to Austin & Margaret Eubank for exchanging $20.00
for $424,506.00 Enjoy the fishing trips!
Nice story...paid handsomely for being thirsty.
Come on jjtheprince 14...please say it again, for old times sake.
What if there was a sign next to the scratch-offs saying "warning, gambling can be addictive" or one of the many other warnings being purposed; would "once-in-awhile" players still purchase a $20 ticket?
Congrats! Austin and Margaret were extremely fortunate, unlike this twice loser.
This Fisherwoman lost her cell, pole, and chair. She is not a happy camper. And the fish.
Watching a woman drop her cell phone in the water made my day. One of these days I'd like to see one drop her phone out the car window while talking and driving. LOL
l hear you. This piece is obviously staged, after all, no one goes fishing in heels. The part that really got me chuckling is that no sooner does her phone fall in the water, that the rod breaks in half and whatever was on the line, dashes for her phone. Perhaps to say " finders keepers."
Glad he won too!
And good for your friend and his wife winning with buying books of cards....I paid $300 one Christmas for a book for a gift to myself and won $150 on it and never bought another one...they didn't have a book of the card I had wanted to buy so settled for another one so who knows if I had held out for the one I wanted I could have won more.
I'll never know now!
Congrats to the winner
Fishing for Winners happens everyday!
I agree