Concord North Carolina Man Wins MASSIVE Lottery Jackpot

Concord man wins lottery. That's a sentence that is not surprising given the recent glut of lottery winners in the area lately. No, what makes Eric Walker's MASSIVE, $5 million jackpot win unique is where he bought his winning scratch-off ticket.

Every one of us in a fantasy has made the following statement. "If I win the lottery, I'm going to quit my job." That being said, I'd be willing to bet NONE of us has ever even thought about this statement. "You know, if I ever win the lottery, I bet I'll be the winning ticket AT my job." However, that's exactly the story that Eric Walker can tell for the rest of his days.

Walker is employed by Food Lion at their Locust location on Main Street. From the lottery ticket vending machine within the store, Eric Walker purchased his $30, 200X ducket. Within seconds, his life was forever changed, and shock set it (not necessarily in that order). Walker tells WBTV, “When I scratched it, I couldn’t believe what I saw.” Concord, North Carolina's latest instant millionaire then did what any husband would do, he called to share the good news with his wife.

And now we come to my favorite part of any lottery windfall tale. I'm forever fascinated by the decision of how to take the cash. As I've mentioned countless times here, I'm not one that has a whole lot of faith in fate and time. The sky could and probably will, fall on me tomorrow, so give me the lump sum option every time. I assumed as a married/family man, Eric Walker would choose the same. WRONG! Walker chose the annuity option. That means he will receive a payment of $250,000 each year for the next 20 years. Following Uncle Sam and the state of North Carolina taking their taste, Walker got a direct deposit of $178,759. He plans to pay off his mortgage with this first check. No word on whether he plans on keeping his job. <g>

There are some states that are luckier than others. There is no doubt about it. North Carolina made the list of 15 lucky states in the United States, according to OLBG. Everyone has fantasized about winning the lottery, whether it's the Mega Millions or the Powerball. Whether you're planning a lavish vacation, buying a house, treating a loved one, giving to charity, or all of the above, when we buy a ticket we always have a little bit of hope and our imaginations go wild when we hear about the unclaimed winning ticket...

When it comes to winning big on the lottery, which states are the luckiest? To determine where in America has the greatest likelihood of winning the big bucks, OLBG analyzed all lottery winners in the U.S. with a jackpot of $300 million or more. You can see the top 15 states below.

California was ranked 12th luckiest state despite having the highest number of big lottery winners, primarily because the state has such a large population that there are very few lottery winners, and the average winning ticket for a California winner is only $190.5 million.

North Carolina has won a whopping $1.1 billion between both lottery winners, making its average winning ticket $550 million, the highest in the country. As a result of its higher population, North Carolina didn't quite capture the title by itself, with a lower percentage of its population winning than New Hampshire.

In terms of lottery jackpot winners, New Hampshire and North Carolina share the gold for the luckiest states. Residents in New Hampshire have won a total of $693.7 million, which is an average of $346.85 million per winning ticket. As one of the states with the highest percentage of people who have won over $300 million, New Hampshire has the third smallest population.