The New York Lottery Celebrates the Luck O' Draw Just in Time for St. Patrick's Day

JAMAICA, NY (03/13/2012)(readMedia)-- The New York Lottery's Yolanda Vega led nine lucky New Yorkers to their "Pots O' Gold" in a pre-St. Patrick's Day celebration at Resorts World Casino New York City today. Each winner received a special ceremonial Lottery check commemorating the upcoming holiday. Today's winners included:

Afsheen Ahsan, 34, of Brooklyn. Ahsan won $1,000,000 on the New York Poker scratch-off ticket. The stay-at-home mom purchased her winning ticket on January 30 at Top Convenience on 3rd Avenue in Brooklyn. The $1,000,000 prize on the New York Poker ticket is paid as $50,000 a year for 20 years. Ahsan will receive an annual net check totaling $31,152 through 2031. The lucky Lottery millionaire plans to use her winnings to help her family and take a vacation.

Konstantinos Arhakis, 30, of East Elmhurst in Queens County. Arhakis won $1,000,000 on the Powerball drawing from the February 15 drawing. The radiology supervisor purchased his winning ticket on February 13 at Ditmars News on 31st Street in Astoria. Arhakis will receive his $1,000,000 prize as a one-time lump sum payment totaling $623,040. His plans for the winnings include upgrading his car and taking a vacation.

Joseph "Joe" Baboolal, 47, of West Babylon in Suffolk County. Baboolal won the $1,000,000 second prize from the February 25 Powerball drawing. He purchased his winning Quick Pick ticket at Express on Deer Park Avenue in Deer Park. Baboolal will receive his $1,000,000 prize as a one-time lump sum payment totaling $661,800. The retail display designer plans to use his winnings to help put his son through college and cut down on his work week from seven days to six.

Angel Delgado, 24, of Ridgewood in Queens County. Delgado won $1,000,000 on the Powerball drawing held on February 4. He purchased his winning Quick Pick ticket on February 2 at the 7-Eleven on Glen Cove Road in Carle Place. Delgado will receive his $1,000,000 prize as a one-time lump sum. His payment after required withholdings totals just over $622,100. He plans to use his winnings to open his own construction company.

Bruce Magistro, 44, of Lindenhurst in Suffolk County. Magistro won the $1,000,000 top prize on the Extreme Cash scratch-off game. He used part of his winnings from another ticket to purchase his winner at Johnny's Mini Mart on Route 109 in West Babylon. The $1,000,000 prize on the Extreme Cash ticket is paid as $50,000 a year for 20 years. Magistro will receive an annual net check totaling $33,090 through 2031. The father of three will use his Lottery windfall to pay off the mortgage on the house and take a vacation to the Caribbean.

Nickolin "Nick" Marku, 42, from the Bronx. Marku won his $1,000,000 prize on the Mega Money Multiplier scratch-off ticket. The truck driver purchased his winning ticket at the Patel Newstand on 7th Avenue in Manhattan on February 22. The $1,000,000 prize on the Mega Money Multiplier ticket is paid as a one-time lump sum cash payment. Marku plans to use his $623,040 windfall to help with his children's education.

Yakov Sheydvasser, 61 of Staten Island. Sheydvasser won the $5,000,000 top prize on the Set For Life scratch-off ticket. The father of two purchased his jackpot winning ticket on February 16 at Aman on 20th Avenue in Brooklyn. The top prize on the Set For Life ticket guarantees a minimum payout of $5,000,000 to be paid over 20 years. Sheydvasser will receive his $5,000,000 in 19 annual payments of $260,000 (net $161,990) and one additional payment of $60,000 (net $37,382). After that, he will continue to receive an annual net payment of $161,990 for the rest of his life.

Javier Luis Vasquez, 43, of Staten Island won the $3,000,000 top prize on the $3,000,000 Bonanza scratch-off ticket. Vasquez purchased his ticket on February 25 at the J&J Bagel Express on Hylan Boulevard in Staten Island. The $3,000,000 prize on the $3,000,000 Bonanza ticket is paid as $150,000 a year for 20 years. Vasquez will receive an annual net check totaling $93,456 through 2031. He plans to use his good fortune to help his family and friends.

"Friends Win Together" is a diverse group of co-workers from Elmont Memorial High School in Nassau County that won $1,000,000 on the Powerball drawing from February 11. The group, 110 people in all, consists of teachers, administrators, custodians, secretaries, teaching assistants and other school personnel. The group explained that they routinely pool their money together when the jackpots reach $100,000,000 and agreed to split their winnings evenly between all members.

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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