The New York Lottery’s Yolanda Vega and Anna Lichorat today presented $23,400,000 to New York’s newest Lottery millionaires.  The winners received their ceremonial prize checks at the Lottery’s Customer Service Center in Plainview on Long Island.

 

Family of Four Splits $6,200,000 LOTTO Jackpot after Jokingly asking Dad to Buy a Ticket

The Panagopoulos family is now $6,200,000 richer thanks to a joke.  Family patriarch, Vasilios, purchased the family’s ticket after they jokingly asked him to “play one for us” as he left the house to play his daily numbers. Family spokesmen, George Panagopoulos, said winning is an experience none of them were prepared for.

 

“My father left the ticket on the dining room table and I decided to check the numbers online a couple of days later.  It was all very weird really.  It’s really too much too handle all at once. We were all asking, ‘So what now? What do we do now?’”

 

The family’s ticket matched all six numbers drawn for the February 28 LOTTO drawing making the Panagopoulos Family New York’s Newest Lottery millionaires.

 

George said he wasn’t surprised that his father, a retired restaurant owner, gifted them with a life changing LOTTO ticket.   “We’re all one unit,” he said. “It’s very important to my father to see us all happy. He has always been very giving.”

 

Dimitra Panagopoulos echoed her son’s sentiments. “He has always sacrificed for this family,” she said. “We are as one.”

 

Each member of the Panagopoulos family will receive a net check totaling $635,026 after required withholdings.  The four family members splitting the prize include:

 

• Fifty-five-year-old Dimitra Panagopoulos from Flushing
• Thirty-three-year-old George Panagopoulos from Little Neck
• Thirty-one-year-old Menelaos Panagopoulos from Flushing
• Twenty-eight-year-old Peter Panagopoulos from Flushing

 

George said the family plans to invest their respective winnings. “There’s been some talk about opening a new restaurant with the younger generation leading the way. We’ll see.”

 

The winning numbers for the February 28 LOTTO drawing were 4-6-10-28-30-53 Bonus number 35.

 

The winning ticket was purchased at the Family Bakery Outlet at 77-26 21st Avenue in East Elmhurst.

 

 

Chef from Flushing Queens wins $7,000,000 on Lottery Scratch-off Ticket

Forty-six-year-old Zhao Yang Liu of Flushing has claimed a top prize of $7,000,000 on the popular $7,000,000 Cash Blowout scratch-off game.  The lucky winner said he has been playing this game for quite some time hoping to win a big prize.

 

“I scratched the coin symbol and knew I won right away,” Liu explained through an interpreter.  “I tried to remain calm.  I put the ticket in my pocket and headed straight home.”

 

Once home Liu called his wife to tell her the news.  “I called my wife right away.  She thought I was playing a joke on her,” he explained.

 

Liu will receive his $7,000,000 prize as a one-time lump-sum payment. After required withholdings he will receive a net check totaling $4,431,280.

 

“I hoped and dreamed that someday I would win,” Liu said.  “I haven’t decided how I will spend the money.  I will start with paying off my bills.”

 

As of this writing there are two outstanding top prizes available on the $7,000,000 Cash Blowout ticket.  Players may check the status of any New York Lottery Scratch-off game by clicking the Instant Games Reports link at nylottery.ny.gov.

 

Liu purchased his life-changing ticket at the Mitul Quickstop at 60-08 Main Street in Flushing.

 

East Islip Man wins the Prize of a Lifetime on a Scratch-off Ticket he Received in a Valentine’s Day Card from his Parents

Thirty-one-year-old James Fannon of East Islip has his parents to thank for his life-changing Lottery win.  Fannon received a jackpot winning Win $1,000 a Week for Life scratch-off ticket in a Valentine’s Day card given to him by his parents.

 

“It’s something my parents like to do instead of giving me candy,” explained Fannon.  “I scratched the first one and it was a loser.  I scratched the second one and I thought I was reading it wrong.”

 

Fannon showed his parents the ticket to double check.  “Once I realized it was for real, I was a bit surprised.”

 

Fannon opted to receive his prize in annual installments of $52,000.  He will receive a net check totaling $34,934 every year for the rest of his life.

 

When asked how it feels to win the Lottery Fannon said, “It’s a breath of fresh air.  The first thing I’ll do is buy a new car.”

 

As of this writing there are six outstanding top prizes available on the always popular Win $1,000 a Week for Life ticket.  Players may check the status of any New York Lottery Scratch-off game by clicking the Instant Games Reports link at nylottery.ny.gov.

 

The winning ticket was purchased at Pequa Spirits at 5151 Merrick Road in Massapequa Park.

 

 

 

 

Construction Worker from Brookhaven wins $9,200,000 LOTTO Jackpot

Sixty-year-old Peter Hess of Brookhaven considers himself an occasional Lottery player.  The construction worker said he has played LOTTO on and off for years and decided to buy a ticket for the January 6 drawing with a jackpot of $9,200,000.  Hess was the only New Yorker to match all six numbers drawn earning him his jackpot win.

 

“The numbers were random.  There was no special way of picking them,” Hess said of his strategy for choosing his winning numbers.

 

Hess checked his numbers a few days later.  “When I realized I had won, I went straight home and called my sister in California.”

 

Hess opted to split his jackpot prize with his sister, Carol Murphy.  Each will receive a net check totaling $2,113,982 after required withholdings.

 

“I have no immediate plans for the money. I will use some of it to take care of family,” said Hess.

 

The winning numbers for the January 6 LOTTO drawing were 1-2-4-40-55-59 Bonus number 27.

 

The winning ticket was purchased at King Kullen at 552 Main Street in Center Moriches.

 

The New York Lottery contributed $260,477,609 and $1,303,190,659 in Lottery Aid To Education to school districts in Suffolk County and the five boroughs respectively during fiscal year 2016-2017.

 

About the New York Lottery

The New York Lottery continues to be North America’s largest and most profitable Lottery, contributing $3.27 billion in fiscal year 2016-2017 to help support education in New York State. The Lottery’s contribution represents approximately 14 percent of total state education aid to local school districts.

 New York Lottery revenue is distributed to local school districts by the same statutory formula used to distribute other state aid to education. It takes into account both a school district’s size and its income level; larger, lower-income school districts receive proportionately larger shares of Lottery school funding.