Seventy-two-year-old Rudy Kolbas of Akron is Erie County’s first Lottery millionaire of 2016 and the eighth in a growing list of New York Lottery players to claim a jackpot-winning ticket in Buffalo in recent months. Kolbas won a $3,000,000 top prize on the $3,000,000 Frenzy scratch-off game.

A self-proclaimed Lottery aficionado, Kolbas said his favorite scratch-off game is $1,000,000 Cashword, but he credits his recent $3,000,000 payday on his decision to combine something old – his scratching technique – with something new, the $3,000,000 Frenzy ticket.

“I have a method for scratching my tickets. First, I scratch the ‘YOUR NUMBERS’ area and then the ‘WINNING NUMBERS.’ If I match any numbers, I’ll scratch the prize. In this case, I got to the end of the winning numbers and scratched an 8 and saw it matched my 8. Then I scratched the prize and saw JACKPOT. I thought ‘this can’t be real.’”

When asked how it feels to win the Lottery, Kolbas said, “I can’t explain it. What am I going to do with all this money?”

Kolbas opted to take the cash value of his $3,000,000 annuity prize. He will receive a single net payment totaling $1,594,938.

His plans for the money include buying a new car, helping family and investing.

Kolbas purchased his winning ticket at CMA Petroleum (Uni Mart) on Main Rd. in Akron.

Other recent Erie County Lottery Millionaires include:

• John Stressing of West Seneca who won at least $7 million on CASH4LIFE in February, 2015
• Theresa Dybalski of Lackawanna who won $1M on the $1,000,000 Winner scratch-off game in March, 2015
• Janice Rovner of Amherst who won a $1M Mega Millions second-prize in June. 2015
• Paula Chandler and James Silva of Buffalo who split a $1M prize on the Cash Extravaganza scratch-off game in July, 2015
• Jodi Quinn of Lake View who won a $1M Mega Millions second prize in July, 2015
• John Dove of Cheektowaga who won $1M on a Win $1,000 A Week For Life scratch-off game in October, 2015; and
• Maryann Nowak of Cheektowaga who also won a $1M prize on the $1,000,000 Winner in December, 2015

The New York Lottery contributed $190,525,401 in Lottery Aid To Education to school districts throughout Erie County during fiscal year 2015-2016.

About the New York Lottery

The New York Lottery continues to be North America’s largest and most profitable Lottery, contributing $3.30 billion in fiscal year 2015-2016 to help support education in New York State.  The Lottery’s contribution represents 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.