Another North Carolina Instant Millionaire Emerges

So how was your Father's Day Weekend? Mine was great. Well, it was as great as it can be when your college age child is not able to be with you. Luckily his mother sensed by depression and cooked up a steak dinner with all my favorite trimmings while I watched the US Open final round at Pinehurst. You know who read that and said, "Sounds good, hold my beer?" Dwayne Hinkle.

Well, I thought you'd never ask. Dwayne Hinkle is a resident of Lexington, North Carolina. Dwayne Hinkle is a normal guy like you and me. That is, if you're idea of normal is while making a routine stop from the "Grab and Go" picking up a scratch-off ticket from The North Carolina Education Lottery. And that's pretty much where comparisons to you and me and Dwayne Hinkle end. See, when Dwayne purchased a $10 "Ultimate Dash" ticket and did the scratch-off thing, he discovered he was instantly $1 million richer.

I know I complain about this a lot, but the one thing I really want to read-just once-is what ticket safety precautions these winners make/take between finding out they've won to win they actually collect the cash from the North Carolina Education Lottery. I'm so paranoid, it would never leave my sight. I would put it in a zip lock bag and have it in the shower with me. The ticket would sleep with my hand on it underneath my pillow (if I was able to sleep at all). It literally would never leave my sight. Wouldn't you like to know this stuff, too? Anyway...

On Friday, Dwayne Hinkle got Father's Day Weekend off to a rip-roaring start by making a visit to the Tar Heel State's lottery office and collecting the cash. As you know, at this point a choice must be made. Hinkle could have taken curtain number one which is a 20-year annuity. He would receive $50,000 a year for the next 20 years. Sounds good, but not good enough to keep him from curtain number two. Dwayne Hinkle took the "lump sum" payout. After everyone who collects taxes did their collecting, Dwayne Hinkle was able to make a deposit of $429,003.

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.