Pineville, North Carolina Man Comes Forward To Claim His Mega Millions Prize

We now know who the lucky North Carolina winner is that won big .  A Pineville, North Carolina man comes forward to claim his Mega Millions prize.  And this is a guy after my own heart.  I like how he says he is going to spend part of this money.

David Morris used a different approach at picking his numbers. He tells the North Carolina Education Lottery that he asked his kids to pick the numbers.  That decision earned him a million bucks.  His kids will never let him forget this . David says he didn't know right away that he had won.  He tells Channel 9 that he heard someone from Pineville won and he got hopeful. He reportedly even called his wife home from work.

He bought the winning ticket at the 7 -eleven on South Polk street in Pineville.  On Friday he went to collect his prize.  After taxes and fees he walked out of there with a check for $712, 501.  That is a whole pile of money and of course we want to know his plans for all that extra dough. This very lucky Pineville, North Carolina man came forward to claim his mega millions prize.

David says he plans to use some of that money to buy some land in the Smoky Mountains.  Yes David!  Buying land is exactly what I would do too.  For more information get all the details from Channel 9 right here.

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.