Losing N.J. lottery tickets become $1.5M for 15 lucky winners

Mar 20, 2017, 10:43 am (1 comment)

New Jersey Lottery

The luck of the Irish was on the side of 15 people who turned losing New Jersey Lottery tickets into big bucks Friday.

The "Million Dollar Replay" program allows scratch-off holders to enter their losing tickets into a yearly $1 million drawing.

The grand prize went to Darlene Love, but she wasn't at Friday's drawing that took place at Trenton's War Memorial.

The other winners were:

  • James Asprocolas, $10,000
  • Devi Metta, $10,000
  • Callie Dowe, $10,000
  • Karen Quast, $10,000
  • Peter Radomski, $10,000
  • Jerry Brown, $25,000
  • Debbie Gerber, $25,000
  • Sirina Kamieniecki, $25,000
  • Heidi Linke, $25,000
  • John Covino, $50,000
  • Thomas Rurak, $50,000
  • Mary O Dwyer, $50,000
  • Rita Devaney, $100,000
  • Lisa Nash, $100,000

Lisa Nash, 55, of Totowa, said she had a good feeling going into Friday, but was still in shock minutes after winning $100,000.

"I'm still shaking, I can't believe it," she said.

Nash says she's been playing the lottery since she was old enough.

"When I have extra cash and I have a feeling, I'll go and just play," she said. "I like scratch-offs. But $300 was the most I ever won so this is really big."

She said her husband, Brian, needs a double-knee replacement so the winnings will allow her to take off from work without having to worry.

Jerry Brown, 64, who plays the lottery every day, plans to put the $25,000 toward fixing his roof that was damaged in this week's storm.

"I joked with my wife, 'Don't worry I'll come home with enough money to fix the roof,'" he said.

Brown, who lives in Forked River, says he's been lucky with the lottery, but Friday was his biggest win to date.

"I had a feeling and a couple other people came up to me telling me they felt I was going to hit something too," he said.

To take part, players have to join the lottery's VIP Club and have bought at least $10 in non-winning instant game tickets.

Each quarter, the lottery picks 100 winners who each get $250.

After year's end, all 400 have the chance to win 15 prizes ranging from $10,000 to $1 million.

For Friday's drawing, every semifinalist's name was placed in a green ball and 15 were randomly chosen. Using a separate machine, lottery officials then matched each winner with a prize amount.

The 2017 "Million Dollar Replay" program is already underway. The quarterly entry deadlines are March 31, June 30, Sept. 30 and Dec. 31.

News story photo(Click to display full-size in gallery)

NJ, Lottery Post Staff

Comments

Raven62's avatarRaven62

Neat way for the Winners to get some Cash!

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