If You Bought This Lottery Ticket, You Could Be One Of 10,000 Winners

Playing the lottery is always a gamble, but if you win, you can usually get a nice prize. Sometimes, the prize is split between multiple people while other lucky winners get the entire jackpot to themselves. Regardless of how you win, an unexpected cash prize is a welcome shock for anyone playing the game.

Nearly 10,000 people in North Carolina can call themselves winners after winning the Carolina Pick 3 in a drawing on Friday (July 9), and as a result will get to split the $3.6 million jackpot.

To earn the win, each player chose the same number combination of 0-0-0, each beating the 1 in 1,000 odds, WSOC reports.

Anyone who won has six months to claim their prize. The amount they take home depends on how much they paid for a ticket. According to the news outlet, those who paid 50 cents for a ticket can get a $250 prize before taxes, while those who paid $1 can get $500.

This isn't the first time a large group of people won the lottery while using the same number combination. In April, more than 6,500 winners scored big in a Carolina Pick 3 drawing, splitting the $2.4 million prize.