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On the day of her 20^th wedding anniversary, Sadhana Patel of New Bern had something else to celebrate — a $373,741 Fast Play jackpot, according to a press release from the North Carolina Education Lottery.

“I was shocked,” she said. “I called my kids first and then I told my husband. We were all happy and shocked at the same time.”

On Jan. 16, Patel purchased her winning $5 Rockin’ Bingo ticket from the store she owns, U Pick Food Mart on Neuse Boulevard in New Bern.

“I said, ‘I feel like I got something good, so let me scan it,” she recalled. “I realized it said take it to the lottery. Then I realized, ‘I think I hit the jackpot.’”

The odds of winning a Fast Play jackpot are 1 in 240,000. A $5 ticket receives 50% of the jackpot amount.

She claimed her prize Friday at lottery headquarters in Raleigh and took home $264,423 after required federal and state tax withholdings.

Patel plans to use the prize money to pay off some bills and share it with family.

Fast Play’s rolling, progressive jackpot increases with every ticket sold until it is won. Printed on each Fast Play ticket is the amount of the jackpot when the ticket is sold and how much of that jackpot the ticket could win. Players can also win instant cash prizes on their Fast Play tickets.

For details on how funds raised by the lottery made an impact in 2020, visit www.nclottery.com and click on the “Impact” section.

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