LIVERPOOL, N.Y. – The New York Lottery’s Gretchen Dizer today presented a $3,000,000 scratch-off prize to the first Onondaga County Lottery jackpot winner of 2013. Chadd Bill of Liverpool won a top prize on the 50X the Money scratch-off game.

Bill, a father of three, was on his way to pick up his children at the local YMCA when he stopped at the Sunoco on Buckley Road in Liverpool to buy a cup of coffee. Bill decided to spend $40 of a $200 scratch-off prize he had won earlier that day to purchase the last four 50X the Money tickets left on the roll. “That’s not the way I usually do things,” Bill said, “But, as far as I was concerned, it was found money so, why not?”

Bill scratched the tickets in the store’s parking lot. The first one he scratched was the jackpot-prize winner. “I was crying by the time I got to the Y,” Bill shared. “I told the kids to just get in the truck and I’ll explain later. On the way home I told them to get ready, because they were all going to go to college someday and the best ones at that.”  Bill claimed his winning ticket at the Lottery’s Customer Service Center in Syracuse on February 28.

The top prize on the 50X the Money game is paid as $150,000 a year for 20 years. Bill will receive 20 annual net payments of $99,270 through 2033. Bill, a self-employed carpenter, said his win is a real blessing because the economy has taken a toll on his business. He plans to take care of his children with this Lottery prize. “Winning won’t change me, but it will let me do more for my boys than I ever thought possible,” he said.

The New York Lottery contributed $101,319,966.04 in Lottery Aid To Education to school districts throughout Onondaga County during fiscal year 2011-12.

About the New York Lottery

The New York Lottery continues to be North America’s largest and most profitable Lottery, contributing nearly $2.9 billion in fiscal year 2011-2012 to help support education in New York State.  The Lottery’s contribution represents nearly 15 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.

About the New York State Gaming Commission

The New York State Gaming Commission regulates all aspects of gaming and gambling activity in the state, including horse racing and pari-mutuel wagering, Class III Indian Gaming, video lottery terminal facilities at race tracks, the state lottery and charitable gaming.