‘It’s a great feeling’: Woman wins $1.86M Monopoly jackpot

ROWAN COUNTY, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — As Barbara Stewart of Cleveland lay in her bed playing digital instant games, she initially got confused when she landed a $1.86 million jackpot.

“I really didn’t know what was going on,” she said. “It was unreal. I could not sleep at all after that.” 

Stewart won the top-level “Grand Fortune” jackpot in the Monopoly game on a $1 play on Oct. 4.

The digital instant game features a progressive jackpot that can be won at any time. The odds of that win were 1 in 50 million.

“Something just told me to play Monopoly,” she said.

Stewart has three grandchildren and one great-grandchild, and she plans to use her big win to help take care of them.

“This came right on time,” Stewart said. “It’s a great feeling.” 

She claimed her prize Friday at lottery headquarters and, after required federal and state tax withholdings, took home $1,335,534.

In addition to helping her family, Stewart plans to do some repairs to her home. 

“Now I can fix whatever needs to be fixed,” she said.

After her big win, the jackpot reset at $150,000 and has climbed over $597,000 as of Monday morning.