Lottery drawing comes up 8-8-8 and 11,926 tickets win top prize

Aug. 16 (UPI) -- Lottery officials in North Carolina said a single drawing ended up with 11,926 top prize winners when the numbers came up 8-8-8.

The North Carolina Education Lottery said the Saturday night Carolina Pick 3 drawing resulted in the winning numbers 8-8-8, and the combination proved to be a popular one with players, resulting in 11,926 tickets earning a top prize.

The lottery said the tickets earned a total $4.9 million, with the top prizes ranging from $250 for a 50-cent ticket to $500 for a $1 ticket.

Officials said combinations of three alike numbers are some of the most popular combinations for Carolina Pick 3 players, and are known as "trips."

The Carolina Pick 3 drawing previously had 9,307 tickets win top prizes in early July, when the numbers 0-0-0 were drawn.