WRAL Investigates: Biggest lottery scratch-off sellers and winners

Lottery sales are soaring in North Carolina.

Last year, there was a record $3.8 billion in sales with scratch-offs as the biggest seller.

WRAL Investigates went through sales and prize data for every store in the state to see who was selling the most and who had the most big winners of $1,000 or more.

"I play scratch-offs every day," one man told us at Eagles Express in the Wake County town of Knightdale.

The man is not alone. With more than $2.7 million in scratch-off sales, it was No. 1 in Wake County and fourth in the entire state. With those sales, come winners of all sizes.

"You look around you see all the tickets hanging up, someone’s always winning here. Big money, not little money," one customer told us.

While the sales at Eagles Express equated to the highest overall payouts in the county, another store ran away with most big wins of $1,000-plus. The Valero on Raleigh's Glenwood Avenue had 26 big winners, despite ranking 17th in the county in scratch-off sales.

"It’s nice to see my regular customers who won," store owner Tes Motora said.

Motora takes pride in his sales and wins.

"A lot of customers come over here because they see the winning dollar amounts," Motora said.

Those winners fill up the store like wallpaper, including a $50,000 jackpot in past couple of weeks.

The Valero is not alone in leading a county with big wins, but not sales. WRAL Investigates found that was the case in nearly half the counties in central North Carolina. The list includes Wake, Durham, Franklin, Granville, Johnston, Moore, Orange, Northampton, Vance, Warren and Wayne counties.

Among the "luckiest" stores, the Five Points Food Mart in Wayne County's Goldsboro. Tops in $1,000-plus winners, 22nd in sales in Wayne County. Vance County's Kittrell Grocery was 12th in sales, but No. 1 in big wins. Finally, Tobacco Plus in Warrenton tied for the most frequent big wins in Warren County, but ranked eighth in sales.

For consistent lottery players, it's the hope the next ticket is the big one.

"[I buy] as many as my bank account will allow," Alan Murray of Raleigh told WRAL Investigates. "I grew up with my daddy playing long before North Carolina got the lottery."

While overall odds show most tickets turn out nothing in return, sometimes you can beat the odds.

"I play because I feel like I got good luck," a customer back at Eagle’s Express told WRAL Investigates. "I came in to cash a ticket, won $100, went in the truck scratched it, came back, won another $50."

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