Man thinks he won $25, then checks NC lottery ticket twice. ‘I had tears in my eyes’

A man in North Carolina took a quick glance at his $5 scratch-off ticket and at first thought he was taking home $25, officials said.

Then, Danny Sims looked twice. The ticket was worth 10,000 times the amount he first thought, winning him $250,000 in the North Carolina Education lottery.

“It took me a while to realize I actually won something after the shock wore off,” Sims, of Ellenboro, told officials. “I was so excited I had tears in my eyes.”

When he noticed how much he had won, Sims froze and decided to tell his family, according to lottery officials. At first they didn’t believe him, since his relatives like to joke with one another a lot.

“We are pranksters,” Sims told the lottery. “We are always pranking each other so they thought I was just messing with them.”

But his win was tried and true off a $5 20x The Cash ticket from the Key Largo Food Mart in Mooresboro, according to lottery officials. Sims ended up taking home $177,526 after taxes.

Sims told lottery officials that he planned to use the money to pay bills and help pay for his stepdad’s house.

If you or a loved one shows signs of gambling addiction, you can seek help by calling the national gambling hotline at 1-800-522-4700 or visiting the National Council on Problem Gambling website.

Man scratches lottery ticket in SC drive-thru and gets life-changing win. ‘I retired’

Italian restaurant owner from North Carolina won $2 million with $20 scratch-off ticket

$20 lottery win inspires Michigan man to buy another ticket — then he won the jackpot

Couple ‘started shaking’ after they won top NC lottery prize. Then they hid the ticket