Liverpool Man Wins $1,000,000 on a Free Powerball Ticket

SYRACUSE, NY (06/21/2012)(readMedia)-- Samlane Lathavong regularly plays the New York Lottery's Powerball game. So it was no surprise that he took advantage of the Lottery's May promotion that offered a free quick pick ticket with the purchase of a $10 Powerball ticket. It was the free ticket that contained the winning number combination that made the 55-year-old Liverpool resident $1,000,000 richer.

"I bought my Powerball ticket because the jackpot at the time was $128,000,000. I knew if I bought $10 on Powerball, I would get a free ticket and that's exactly what I did," explained the Laos-born Lathavong.

Lathavong received his free quick pick ticket on May 26 at the Far East & Asian Grocery on Townsend Street in Syracuse. He claimed his prize on May 30 at the Lottery's Customer Service Center in Syracuse. He will receive his prize in one net payment totaling $661,800.

The winning numbers for the May 26 Powerball drawing were 13–14–41–49–59 Powerball-14.

"I am very pleased to have the extra money," explained Lathavong. "I plan to buy a house and visit my family back home in Laos."

Lathavong's Powerball win makes him Onondaga County's first Lottery millionaire of 2012.

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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