Key keywords: North Carolina lottery winner, $1 million lottery prize, lucky number 7 win, NC scratch-off ticket, 7-themed lottery ritual, Lucky 7s Doubler game, NC Education Lottery A 47-year-old Raleigh, North Carolina, resident Robert Johnson has claimed a $1 million lottery prize after decades of centering his lottery purchases around the number 7, a digit he has considered his personal lucky charm since childhood. Johnson shared that his connection to the number 7 dates back to his birth on July 7, 1976, followed by a series of meaningful life events tied to the digit: he wore number 7 on his high school football jersey, proposed to his wife on the 7th of June 2003, his first child was born weighing 7 pounds and 7 ounces, and his family has lived in their home on 7th Avenue for 11 years. For more than 20 years, Johnson has exclusively bought lottery tickets priced at $7, picked number combinations featuring at least three 7s, and opted for scratch-off games with 7 in the title whenever they are available. On October 18, 2024, he stopped at his regular neighborhood convenience store, Crossroads Grocery, on his way home from his construction job, and noticed only one $7 Lucky 7s Doubler scratch-off ticket left in the display case. He purchased the ticket along with a bottle of soda, and headed home to scratch it off at his kitchen table, a routine he follows every Friday. Johnson initially thought he had won a $1,000 prize when he scratched off the first three matching symbols, but he did a double take when he realized the final value printed next to the matching 7 symbols was $1,000,000. He immediately called his wife, who first thought he was pranking her after a long day at work, and the pair drove straight to the NC Education Lottery regional office that same evening to verify the win. Lottery officials confirmed the win the next business day, and Johnson chose to receive his prize as a one-time lump sum payment of $780,000 after taxes. He shared that he plans to use the funds to pay off the remaining mortgage on his family’s home, set up college funds for his two teenage children, donate 7% of the prize to the local Wake County Animal Shelter, and take his family on a 7-day trip to Hawaii in July next year. NC Education Lottery spokesperson Mary Adams noted that this is the 7th $1 million+ scratch-off prize awarded in the state this quarter, calling the series of 7-related coincidences “a fun, full-circle moment for everyone involved.”