Long Island Waitress Wins $21,500,000 Lotto Jackpot

Seven other winners from Queens, Bronx, Manhattan and Mineola receive prizes totaling $11M

GARDEN CITY, NY (01/27/2011)(readMedia)-- Today the New York Lottery awarded eight lucky players a total of $32,500,000 in prizes. The big winner of the day was Patricia Eisel, a forty-year-old waitress from Long Beach, Nassau County. Eisel matched all six numbers from the January 5th Lotto drawing earning her a $21,500,000 tip of a lifetime.

"When I checked my numbers I just started shaking," explained the mother of three. "I was doing my laundry at the time and decided to check the results from the night before. All six numbers matched the numbers on my ticket and I froze. I composed myself, gathered up my laundry and went to a friend's house to make sure I wasn't seeing things!"

The winning results for the January 5, 2011 Lotto drawing were: 4 – 6 – 11 – 18 – 20 – 33

Eisel purchased her jackpot winning ticket at the Sand Castle Wines & Liquor on Beach Street in Long Beach on January 5, 2011. She claimed her prize at the Lottery's Customer Service Center in Garden City on January 18th. At the time of purchase, Eisel opted to receive her prize as a one-time lump sum payment representing the cash value of the $21,500,000 jackpot. Today, she received her lump sum payment of $11,975,334. Her net check will total $7,907,313.

Eisel moved to New York from her native Ireland in 1995 and knows exactly how she will spend her winnings. "I will buy a home, not a house, here in New York. Something very comfortable with a big fenced in yard that the boys can run around in. I know they'll be thrilled when I tell them we'll also buy a family dog to run around the yard with them."

Other recent Lottery millionaires to receive prize checks today include:

• Omar Poorun, 44, of Richmond Hill, Queens. An engineer for Centaur Properties, Poorun won $3,000,000 on the $3,000,000 Richer instant ticket.

• Ding Guan Chen, 53, of Maspeth, Queens. A truck driver for a Chinese delivery company, Chen won $3,000,000 on the Platinum Payout instant ticket.

• Ho Yu Chang, 58, of Jackson Heights, Queens. A chef, Chang won the $1,000,000 top prize on the popular $1,000,000 Cashword instant ticket.

• Gjergj Lucaj, 64, of the Bronx. An elevator operator for the Grace Building in Bryant Park, Lucaj won $1,000,000 playing Powerball Power Play.

• Saif Alzokari, 54, of Manhattan. A grocery store manager, Alzokari won $1,000,000 playing Powerball Power Play.

• Ricardo Gonzalez, 19, of Mineola, Nassau County. A full-time student and construction worker, Gonzalez won $1,000,000 on the $500,000,000 Extravaganza instant ticket.

• Sergio Catalan, 51, of the Bronx. An independent contractor, Catalan won $1,000,000 on the $1,000,000 Cashword instant ticket.

The New York Lottery continues to be North America's largest and most profitable Lottery, earning more than $39.3 billion in education support statewide since its founding over 40 years ago. The Lottery contributed nearly $2.67 billion in fiscal year 2009-2010 to help support education in New York State, which was over 12 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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