First ticket, first prize: new player wins on her debut

By Kate Northrop

GASTONIA, N.C. — A North Carolina woman nailed it on the very first try: a $100,000 top prize on the only lottery ticket she's ever bought.

First time's the charm for one North Carolina resident, who decided to play the lottery for the first time and walked away with a $100,000 prize.

Kahla Jeffries of Gastonia stopped for gas one day when the lottery ticket cabinet caught her eye. It's not an uncommon sight at a convenience store, but for some reason, she decided that was the day she'd try buying a ticket for the first time.

She purchased one $30 "$100,000 Cash Payday" scratch-off ticket at Will's Food Store on Hickory Grove Road in Gastonia.

"That one just caught my eye," she explained to the North Carolina Lottery.

In that moment, Jeffries held all the beginner's luck in the world and won one of the game's several top prizes of $100,000.

"I didn't think I was looking at it right," she laughed with Lottery officials.

She visited Lottery headquarters in Raleigh on Friday to claim her one and only lottery prize, which came out to be $72,018 after federal and state taxes.

With her winnings, she plans to purchase a car and save up for school.

Following Jeffries' win, 58 out of 80 top prizes of $100,000 remain in the $30 "$100,000 Cash Payday" scratch-off game, which launched in March. There are also seven out of ten second-tier prizes of $30,000 and 118 out of 157 third-tier prizes of $3,000 left to win.

The overall odds of winning any prize in the game are 1 in 3.49.

(Click to display full-size in gallery)Kahla Jeffries of Gastonia stopped for gas, decided to buy a scratch-off for the first time, and walked away with a $100,000 top prize.