Roommates promised to split $1 NC lottery ticket if they got lucky. Then came big win

Promising to split lottery money — if you win — is one of those goofy things people say without thinking.

Why worry, since the odds are, like, a million to one?

Well, it actually happened Friday to a pair of roommates in Greensboro, North Carolina, according to the NC Education Lottery.

Ivan Da Silva and Marcelo Cremonese bought a $1 Carolina Cash 5 ticket and they hit the jackpot: $175,114.

The idea of two adults needing to split the cost of a $1 lottery ticket sounds ... odd. But lottery officials say the win came after the two put their heads together for the winning numbers, while shopping at the Big Boy’s Market in Greensboro.

So what did they pair do?

“Da Silva and Cremonese claimed their prize Monday,” lottery officials said. “They split the jackpot and each took home $61,947 after required federal and state tax withholdings.”

The odds of matching all the numbers are 1 in 962,598, the lottery says.

North Carolina’s lottery has a history of splitting winnings among friends and even groups, after people pooled wits and money on lottery tickets. In March, a group of six friends who played the lottery together for 14 years won a $150,000 Powerball prize, McClatchy News reported.

Each member of the team, based in Holly Ridge, got $17,691 after taxes, it was reported.

Cash 5 is “a rolling jackpot game” that offers ticket buyers a shot at winning $100,000 or more every night, the lottery says. Players can either pick their own numbers (as the roommates did) or ask the retailer to choose.

This story was originally published December 22, 2020 at 12:49 PM with the headline "Roommates promised to split $1 NC lottery ticket if they got lucky. Then came big win."