Updated Feb. 27, 2026, 10:08 a.m. ET
Annette Tennal of Shelby sat in her car Saturday playing digital instant games while her husband drove when out of the blue she hit a $676,572 jackpot.
“I hit it, and then I got to hollering,” she laughed. “He didn’t know what was going on.”
Tennal, a grandmother of four, said she didn’t believe the win at first.
“I was like, ‘Is this real,’” she said.
Tennal played for $10 and won the top level ‘Epic jackpot’ in the Bison Bonanza game. The digital instant game features a progressive jackpot that can be won any time. The odds of that win are 1 in 3.1 million.
“I texted some of my family, and they sent me back the dancing emojis,” Tennal said.
She claimed her prize Thursday at lottery headquarters and, after required federal and state tax withholdings, took home $487,202.
She plans to use her winnings to pay bills and buy a new car.
In the Bison Bonanza digital instant game, a player can play from 50 cents to $30. After Tennal won the jackpot, it restarted at $50,000 and has grown to over $141,000 as of Friday morning.
Digital instant games are played exclusively online on the lottery’s website or on the NC Lottery Official Mobile App. Sixty-six different games are available to play online now.
Education programs in Cleveland County received $6.4 million in support from lottery funds last year.