Being in the Right Place at the Right Time Pays Off for Latham Man

SCHENECTADY, NY (03/20/2012)(readMedia)-- Frank Costa, 65, of Latham, routinely stops at Coulson's Variety News on New Loudon Road in Latham to visit with the owner and play his favorite scratch-off tickets. During one of those visits he noticed a customer pass up a Black Pearls ticket and decided to purchase it himself. The decision paid off handsomely when he scratched off a coin symbol with the word 'jackpot' underneath it, earning him a $1,000,000 pay day.

"I saw a woman come into the store and almost buy the Black Pearls ticket. When she decided to buy a different one, I kept my eye on it. Eventually I decided to take a chance and went ahead and bought it myself," explained the chemist.

Costa purchased his winning Black Pearls ticket on March 6 and claimed his prize the very next day at the Lottery's Customer Service Center in Schenectady. "I scratched the coin symbol and knew right away I had a winner. When I started to scratch the prize underneath, I saw letters instead of numbers. That's when I knew I won something big," he said.

Like most Lottery scratch-off games, the $1,000,000 prize on the Black Pearls ticket is paid as $50,000 a year for 20 years. Costa will receive an annual net check totaling $33,090 through 2031.

Costa's plans for his million dollar windfall are simple. "I have no intention of retiring anytime soon, so a lot of it I'll just put into savings. I'll definitely buy a few gifts for the family, especially the grandchildren."

About the New York Lottery

The New York Lottery continues to be North America's largest and most profitable Lottery, contributing over $3 billion in fiscal year 2010-2011 to help support education in New York State. The Lottery's aid represents over 15 percent of total state education funding to local school districts.

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.

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