Greensboro couple almost throws out $1,000,000 winning scratch-off ticket

James Strickland of Greensboro said he recently bought an Extreme Millions scratch-off ticket for $30 from the Express Mart on National Highway in Thomasville, according to a news release.

"I always throw the losing tickets I scratch into my car floorboard," Strickland said in the release. "Then at the end of the week I check the stack again. I found this ticket in my loser stack, and I couldn't believe it. I was all ecstatic and shaky. A million changes a lot."

Strickland and Teresa McCallister decided to take home their prize as a lump sum on Thursday at the lottery headquarters in Raleigh.

The two had the choice of one payment of $600,000 or 20 payments of $50,000.

After state and federal tax withholding, the pair returned with $423,014.

Strickland and McCallister said this win will change a lot and plan to pay off bills before Strickland makes his dream purchase.

"I've wanted a bass boat for years and years and years," Strickland said in the release. "That was always the dream when I thought about winning the lottery."

Extreme Millions, which launched in 2016, began with four $10 million prizes and 22 $1 million prizes.

Now, only a few of those top dollar prizes remain. Players still have a chance for the final $10 million prize and three $1 million prizes.