Gut feeling leads to purchase of $1M lottery ticket in North Carolina

July 7 (UPI) -- A 46-year-old heating and air conditioning installer from North Carolina says he bought a $25 Spectacular Riches scratch-off ticket on a hunch and won $1 million.

"It was a strong feeling in my gut that told me to get that ticket," Anthony Pinnix said, according to the North Carolina state lottery's website.

Pinnix bought the ticket from Rite Stop Market on North Graham Hopedale Road in Burlington, then went to his boss' house where he scratched off the ticket.

"I told him: 'Oh my God! You're not going to believe this. I just won a $1 million,'" Pinnix recalled, noting he immediately called his wife.

"She didn't believe me until I got home with the ticket and showed her," Pinnix laughed.

Pinnix chose the lump-sum payment amount of $600,000, instead of $50,000 over 20 years.

After required state and federal tax withholdings, he was left with $426,067, which he plans to use to buy his wife a new car and bolster his investment portfolio.