Asheboro man wins $100,000 from scratch-off ticket

ASHEBORO — Well, that’s a nice Christmas present.

Randal Bickham of Asheboro took a chance on a $50 scratch-off and won a $100,000 prize.

Bickham bought his lucky $8 Million Money Maker ticket from the Quik Chek on Zoo Parkway in Asheboro.

He traveled to lottery headquarters in Raleigh on Monday, Dec. 22, to collect his prize and, after required state and federal tax withholdings, took home $71,764.

The $8 Million Money Maker game debuted in December 2024 with five $8 million top prizes and 10 $100,000 prizes. Three $8 million prizes and five $100,000 prizes remain to be claimed. 

Benefit to Randolph County

According to the NC Lottery, in the fiscal year ending in 2024, the most recent year of available figures at nclottery.com, the county received $38,025,734 for education programs, broken down as follows:

■ $31,607,358 for school construction, which included a $29,728,490 needs-based grant, and the rest on repair and renovation projects. In essence, the more spent there is the less needed from other sources, such as property taxes.

■ $4,881,489 for school staff, which helps support operations for public and charter schools, including office assistants, custodians and substitute teachers.

■ $854,869 for pre-kindergarten, for 4-year-olds at risk of falling behind their peers as they prepare for kindergarten. In Randolph County, 148 children received a free, academic pre-school experience in 2024.

■ $465,142 in college scholarships, based on financial needs to help students cover the costs of attending a state university or community college in NC. In Randolph County, 882 scholarships were awarded in 2024.

■ $216,876 for school transportation — costs for yellow bus student transportation, including bus drivers’ salaries, fuel and other related costs.

Since the lottery’s inception on March 30, 2006, through the end of the 2024 fiscal year on June 30, 2024, the accumulative total for Randolph County is $158,338,223.

An older but interesting study 

In a WECT report in September, 2021, a public records request from the TV station pulled in some interesting results. 

It showed that in the previous five years, the most scratch-off tickets that won $600 or more from one place in the state were sold at Calabash Food & Fuel. That location was also 10th in the state since the lottery’s inception in 2026 to pay out at least $600 in draw games.

The caveat to that surprising reveal is that Calabash Food & Fuel also topped the state in sales of scratch-offs for the previous five years — likely due to its location near the South Carolina border, where cash prizes aren’t as big as those in the Tarheel state.

For the ocean-lovers among us, Calabash is well-known as the “Seafood Capital of the World.” For others, it is a small town of a little over 2,000 people.

Randolph eye-openers

Closer to home … In that same study, which looked at every county in the state, Randolph County had 176 draw game wins over those five years, but lottery spenders forked over more than $50 million — yes, $50 million — in sales to get there, spending $50,016,505.50 to be exact, according to WECT’s report on the public records’ request from the lottery.

In that same time frame, there were 1,712 scratch-off winners from Randolph County … from an even more whopping $110,349,971.00 in purchases spent over five years.

The top winning retailers in Randolph County during those 5 years:

From the scratch-off portion of the study

1. 68 wins — Ready Mart #2, 2010 S. Fayetteville St., Asheboro.

2. 65 wins — Ready Mart #3, 334 N.Main St., Randleman.

3. 63 wins — Econo Mart #14, 2410 N. Fayetteville St.

4. 58 wins — Ready Mart, 1334 N. Fayetteville St., Asheboro.

5. 57 wins — Kwik Stop #3, 204 N. Greensboro St., Liberty.

6. 54 wins — 5958 US 311, Sophia (More than one name during that time).

7. 50 wins — Econo Mart #2, 1140 US 64 West, Asheboro.

8. 48 wins — Ready Mart #4, 1106 Salisbury St., Asheboro.

9. 44 wins — Byrd’s BP, 776 W. Dixie Drive, Asheboro.

10. 43 wins — Trindale Mini Mart, 7619 NC 62, Trinity.

From the draw games portion of the study:

1. 9 wins — Ready Mart, 1334 N. Fayetteville St., Asheboro.

1. 9 wins — Mid-Town Dixie Express Fuel, 455 W. Salisbury St., Asheboro.

3. 8 wins — Ready Mart #3, 334 N. Main St., Randleman.

3. 8 wins — 8606 Hillsville Road, Sophia (more than one name during that time).

5. 7 wins — Sheetz #418, 5905 Finch Farm Road, Trinity.

6. 6 wins — Lucky’s Burger-N-Tap, 1224-A East Dixie Drive, Asheboro.

6. 6 wins — Byrd’s BP, 776 W. Dixie Drive, Asheboro.

6. 6 wins — Quick Check #10, 1634 Zoo Parkway, Asheboro.

6. 6 wins — 9608 US 220 Bus. N, Randleman (more than one name during that time).

10. 5 wins — 8517 Hillsville Road, Sophia (more than one name during that time).