It was just "one of those days," but lottery win makes it one like no other
By Kate Northrop
LINCOLN PARK, N.J. — A New Jersey man was having "one of those days" until a $1 million scratch-off prize instantly turned it around.
It was no longer a "bad day" for one New Jersey resident, who was hoping for a $100 lottery prize but won $1 million instead.
Dec. 11 was not the greatest day for one anonymous Morris County resident. That's why he turned to the lottery for a quick pick-me-up at the end of the day.
He stopped at Wolfson's Market on Boonton Turnpike in Lincoln Park and decided to buy a $20 "100X Cash Blitz" scratch-off ticket.
"Man, I was having a bad day," the player told the New Jersey Lottery. "I was running around town and I just stopped at Wolfson's. I play there once in a blue moon. I usually go across the street. I figured I deserved something. You know, like $100."
Despite scratching off the ticket, he was still having a tough time seeing the digits on the play area without his 2X reading power glasses.
"I can't tell the difference between 4s and 9s without my glasses," the winner continued. "I had to look at the card like 10 times. I thought I must be misreading something."
The player asked his friend for help in identifying the mysterious numbers on the ticket, during which his friend recalled:
"He's calling me over screaming, saying 'Tell me I won.' Boy that was a lot of zeroes!"
"I was just hoping for like $500 to be able to buy some Christmas presents for people!" the winner added.
The next thing he knew, he was filling out a New Jersey Lottery claim form, but he repeated the blunder of the previous day and had to borrow someone else's reading glasses to do so.
He visited Lottery headquarters in Trenton to claim the prize and was accompanied by a friend.
"I was so nervous last night, I put the ticket in the drawer and just paced the floor all night," he recalled.
Since the $1 million prize was the annuity value, the lucky winner took home $602,300, which was the cash value of the prize.
"Hey, at least I can say I was a millionaire for a day," he joked.
While the thrill of winning a top prize on a lottery scratch-off ticket is an incomparable feeling in the moment, it's sinking in that the prize will serve a lot of long-term benefits. The winner is currently recovering from shoulder surgery and is collecting disability since he is unable to work. With just a few months away from being eligible to retire, the winnings will help bridge the time before he does. The prize money will also go a long way to help him care for his elderly mother, who is in her 90s.
"This couldn't have come at a better time," the winner's friend told Lottery officials.
The lucky anonymous player was the first top prize winner of $1 million in the $20 "100X Cash Blitz" scratch-off game, which launched in August, leaving two out of three top prizes left. There are also 39 out of 48 second-tier prizes of $5,000 and 451 out of 591 third-tier prizes of $2,000 remaining.
According to the Lottery, odds of winning a prize in the game are better than 1 ticket in 4.
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Congrats to the winner