Raleigh man's love of pi earns him a slice of $192,941 jackpot

A Raleigh man's math skills led him to turn a $1 Cash 5 ticket into a six-figure investment.

Jonathan Ruby won a $192,941 jackpot based on his affinity for the number pi.

Ruby used those numbers on the ticket and it paid off.

“I’ve always been an extremely big math person,” Ruby said. “I picked my numbers based on pi.”

Ruby said the number pi has popped up in several different situations in his life. Pi, which is the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter, is officially 3.14159265359.

“I kept seeing that number so my karma told me to use it,” Ruby said. “I even lived at a 314 address as a child.”

Ruby bought his ticket from the Han-Dee Hugo’s on Hillsborough Street in Raleigh for the Nov. 28 drawing. Ruby, 64, said he knew he won something, but the scope of the victory didn't sink in until later.

“I thought I won a dollar or two,” Ruby said while laughing. “I was calm until I got home and checked the numbers and then I got very excited.”

When Ruby saw the winning numbers come up as 3-14-15-31-41, he knew his fondness for the number was worth it. Ruby ended up with one of three winning tickets in the drawing, earning a third of the $578,823 jackpot.

After taxes, Ruby took home $137,012. Ruby, who works as a bartender, said he's going to take care of some bills and put the rest into saving for retirement.