COLUMBIA, SC (May 1, 2025) – When the Lottery notified a Columbia man that he’d won $1 million in a drawing, he didn’t believe it.
“I thought it was a joke,” he said.
He hung up the phone with the South Carolina Education Lottery and called his wife, who was on her way home. He waited until she walked through the door he tell her he might be a millionaire.
“What?” she said. “Oh, come on.”
It wasn’t until the couple visited to the Lottery’s Claims Center and were given a check for their $1 million prize that they celebrated.
The Columbia man became a millionaire in April when his lottery ticket was selected from the more than 1.3 million tickets received in the Royal Millions Second-Chance Promotion. The promotion allowed players to enter their winning and non-winning Royal Millions scratch-offs for a chance to win $1 million.
“It’s unbelievable,” the winner told lottery officials. “It’s more money than I have ever seen in my life.”
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