Extra $1 Wager Earns Fabius Man $1,000,000 Mega Millions Win

POMPEY, NY (09/12/2012)(readMedia)-- "Sometimes second prize isn't so bad," explained Edwin Bobbette, Jr. The fifty-three-year-old Fabius resident became Onondaga County's newest Lottery millionaire after winning $1,000,000 on New York's Mega Millions Megaplier option. His reaction came upon seeing five of his hand-picked numbers drawn in the August 21 Mega Millions drawing, earning him a larger than usual second place prize. Players who match the first five numbers in a Mega Millions drawing usually receive $250,000. Because Bobbette paid an additional $1 to add the optional Megaplier feature to his wager, his second place prize was boosted to $1,000,000.

"I've been playing the same numbers for the past ten years," explained the lucky Lottery millionaire. "I was watching television and saw my numbers go by. I thought I might have been seeing things so I checked the paper when I got to work and there they were, all but one."

Bobbette claimed his $1,000,000 Mega Millions Megaplier prize on August 22 at the Lottery's Customer Service Center in Syracuse. He bought his winning ticket at Pompey Mall, State Route 20 in Pompey on the day of the drawing.

Bobbette will receive his $1,000,000 Mega Millions Megaplier prize in one lump sum totaling $661,800 after required withholdings. The winning numbers for the August 21 Mega Millions drawing were 5-13-20-23-33 and Mega Ball 30.

"To be honest I don't really know what my plans are for the money," he admitted. "I play the Lottery to see if I can pick the same numbers that are drawn. Up until now, we haven't been on the same wavelength," he joked.

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.

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