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N.M. teacher claims lottery prize 2 hours before it expires

Dec 16, 2009, 8:34 pm

New Mexico LotteryNew Mexico Lottery: N.M. teacher claims lottery prize 2 hours before it expiresRating:

With only two hours to spare, an Albuquerque teacher claimed a $10,000 Powerball prize scheduled to expire today at 4:30 p.m.

Chris Daskalos, a social studies teacher at the Albuquerque Talent Development Secondary Charter School, arrived at the New Mexico Lottery headquarters at 2:30 p.m. after clerks at the Chevron Redi-Mart No. 90 confirmed his ticket as a winner from the Sept. 16 Powerball drawing.

"They said 'Hurry, hurry, you only have two hours,'" Daskalos recalled. "It was a squeaker."

After seeing an evening news item about a soon-to-expire Powerball ticket last week, Daskalos retrieved a stack of wagers from their "lucky place" on top of his television set next to a picture of his parents. He wasn't able to confirm the ticket as the winner until today.

Daskalos, also a single parent and full-time student pursuing an advanced degree in education, said he vaguely remembered buying the ticket three months ago and forgot to check for prizes. Prizes for all New Mexico Lottery drawing games must be claimed with 90 calendar days of the draw or they expire.

"But someone up there," he said.

Daskalos' quick pick ticket matched the red Powerball number of 25 and four white ball numbers of 17, 37, 40 and 56. If he had matched the fifth white ball number of 51, Daskalos would have won the game's jackpot of $95 million.

After receiving his down-to-the-wire prize, Daskalos received wise advice from 14-year-old daughter Iliana.

"She told me to take it to the bank and save it," he said.

Daskalos purchased his lucky ticket at the Chevron Redi-Mart No. 90 located at 12504 Central Ave. SW in Albuquerque. This lottery retailer has sold 11 other large-prizing winning lottery tickets ranging between $1,000 and $100,000.

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7 comments. Last comment 2 years ago by LckyLary.
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gocart1's avatar - lighthouse
da bronx,city island,n.y.
United States
Member #30895
January 17, 2006
216 Posts
Offline
Posted: December 16, 2009, 8:44 pm - IP Logged

WOW...What a great Holiday Season Chris is going to have ...Best of luck for him...NoelPartyUS FlagPartyNoel

    gocart1's avatar - lighthouse
    da bronx,city island,n.y.
    United States
    Member #30895
    January 17, 2006
    216 Posts
    Offline
    Posted: December 16, 2009, 8:47 pm - IP Logged

    WOW...What a great Holiday Season Chris is going to have ...Best of luck for him...NoelPartyUS FlagPartyNoel

    And would Chris have been giving a week of detention for being late.

      dopey7719's avatar - Lottery-049.jpg
      Midlands, SC
      United States
      Member #70200
      January 14, 2009
      278 Posts
      Offline
      Posted: December 16, 2009, 8:59 pm - IP Logged

      Bless His Heart!!!

        rdgrnr's avatar - walt
        Ridge Runner - Oracle of the Appalachians
        Way back up in them hills, son
        United States
        Member #74415
        April 28, 2009
        8333 Posts
        Online
        Posted: December 16, 2009, 9:09 pm - IP Logged

        Always wondered how so many winning tickets go unclaimed. I guess that's an example. Infrequent players buy them and forget about them.

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        The water ain't never gonna run clear til you get the pigs out of the creek.

                        
                                         
                                                                 
                                                    
                       
               

          ThatScaryChick's avatar - 2rfv8cx
          Idaho
          United States
          Member #56982
          November 21, 2007
          3940 Posts
          Offline
          Posted: December 17, 2009, 12:34 am - IP Logged

          Congrats to Mr. Daskalos on his win! He is lucky that he checked his ticket and claimed his prize in time.

          "No one remembers the person who almost climbed the mountain, only the person who eventually gets to the top."
          ThatScaryChick

            diamondpalace's avatar - Untitled 2.jpg
            Dallas, TX
            United States
            Member #60771
            April 12, 2008
            3809 Posts
            Offline
            Posted: December 17, 2009, 3:31 am - IP Logged

            Close call.

            People really do need to make it a habit to check their tickets right away! Your fortune will be miss if not.

            :: Lottery Systems: P-Sum | STR Pick 3 | CFP | Strawpairies| ASC ::
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              Avatar

              United States
              Member #10921
              January 23, 2005
              932 Posts
              Offline
              Posted: December 20, 2009, 11:49 am - IP Logged

              I found one for nearly 2/3 of that one, 2 weeks after I played it. Even frequent players can get busy especially during the Happy Season's Holiday Greetings and not get to check right away. Maybe I left them in the car, it's snowing out, I'll look at them tomorrow... Another time I found, under the back of an SUV, at night, in a supermarket parking lot, a Mega Millions ticket for an upcoming drawing. I turned it in, and it turned out to match 3 for a $7 prize.