Change in Strategy Earns Farmington Woman $1,000,000 Lottery Win

CANANDAIGUA, NY (05/04/2012)(readMedia)-- The New York Lottery today announced Theresa Hartzell of Farmington as Ontario County's first Lottery millionaire of 2012. The 46-year-old Hartzell said she credits her million dollar win to a slight change in strategy.

"I normally buy two of the same $5 tickets when I buy my scratch-offs. That day I decided to switch it up and buy two different ones," explained the nurse's aide. One of those tickets was a 20X The Money ticket that turned out to be the $1,000,000 winner.

Hartzell purchased her winning ticket on April 17 at the Express Mart on Rochester Road in Canandaigua. "I stop in there almost every day on my way to work. That day was no different," she said. Hartzell claimed her prize the next day at the Lottery's Customer Service Center in Rochester.

The top prize on the 20X The Money scratch-off game is paid as $50,000 a year for 20 years. Hartzell will receive a net check totaling $33,090 a year through 2031. "I cried tears of joy when I realized I hit the jackpot. I'll use the money to take a cruise with my husband and finally buy a house of our own," explained the lucky winner.

Hartzell's win makes her Ontario County's first Lottery jackpot winner of 2012 to claim a top prize valued at $1,000,000 or more.

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.

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