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North Carolina man wins two $25,000 a year prizes for the rest of his life

Lucky for Life has a top prize of $1,000 a day for life. The second-biggest prize, $25,000 a year for life, is the prize that Scotty Thomas took home.

RALEIGH, N.C. — Editor's Note: The main video in this story is from a November 2021 story on three guaranteed ways to shop and save this holiday season.

49-year-old Scotty Thomas purchased two identical Lucky for Life tickets in Saturday’s drawing and won not one but two $25,000 a year for life prizes.

“I was just laying in bed watching a basketball game on TV and I couldn’t remember if I filled it out or not,” Thomas said. “I went ahead and filled it out again and the next morning my son asked why there were two different amounts listed. I realized, ‘I think I filled it out twice.’”

Thomas went to collect his winnings Monday and faced a big decision. 

He could take both prizes receiving a total of $50,000 every year for the rest of his life. He could take one prize and receive $25,000 a year for life and the second as a lump sum of $390,000, or he could take both as lump-sum prizes of $390,000 each.

Thomas said he decided to take both prizes as lump-sum payments of $780,000 total because he wants to invest in his business, pay off some bills, help out his family and possibly buy a house. 

Lucky for Life has a top prize of $1,000 a day for life. The second-biggest prize, $25,000 a year for life.

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