Long Island waitress wins $21.5M Lotto jackpot

Jan 28, 2011, 8:39 am (16 comments)

New York Lottery

Luck was on the menu.

A struggling Long Island waitress and single mother of three young boys who hails from Ireland scored a $21.5 million Lotto jackpot, New York Lottery officials announced yesterday.

After opting for a lump-sum payout of nearly $12 million, Patricia Eisel, 40, will take home a cool $8 million after taxes to fill her barren bank account.

The beaming immigrant, who barely made ends meet toiling at The Saloon in Long Beach for the past nine years, said her worrisome stack of bills no longer seems quite so daunting.

"This came just in time," she said at a check-presentation ceremony yesterday.

Eisel said she has yet to tell her children. "I'm going to tell them that mommy got lucky," said Eisel, who plans to move from her cramped apartment and buy a house. "And that we're going to have a nice life. Everything is going to be OK."

Eisel said she bought $8 worth of Lotto tickets on Jan. 5. She had $7 in her pocket and found one more stray single — the proceeds from a measly tip — and chose the Quick Pick option, which produced the winning numbers 4, 6, 11, 18, 20 and 33.

"My heart was pumping so fast I didn't know what to think," she said.

Eisel, who moved to New York in 1995, said she hasn't shared the good news with her mom in Ireland.

"I didn't tell her because I didn't want her to have a heart attack," she said. "I want to tell her in person."

Despite the windfall, Eisel said she has no intention of quitting her waitressing job.

"I'm going to stay working there," she said. "That's my family. My customers are my family. My boss is my family."

News story photo(Click to display in gallery)

New York Post

Comments

dallascowboyfan's avatardallascowboyfan

 Congratulations to the winner!!!!!!

sully16's avatarsully16

Congratulations Patricia, This is a great story, Party

PERDUE

Congratulations to Ms. Patricia Eisel.

I wish nothing but the best for you and your sons.

Enjoy your windfall.

kalikgirl's avatarkalikgirl

Wow Congratulations to Patricia on your winnings!

 

I gather from the story that you are a well grounded individual, you shall do well and keep a level head about your winnings.

I like the idea that you will continue to work also.

 

all the Best,

 

Kalikgirl

savagegoose's avatarsavagegoose

i m guessing she stays working there as long as it takes her boss to say " no you cant have time off to go visit your mum in ireland"

nice win sounds like a real battler. if she doesnt have financial sense, hope she gets some decent advice.

dpoly1's avatardpoly1

Congrats to  Patricia!

I am sure that she has been struggling. It is so very expensive to live on Long Island.  Big Grin

 

I am looking for my big win tonite!  Sun Smiley

zerxfi

good thing ny isn't a community property state. it would suck if she had to share her winnings with some estranged ex-con husband she never took the time to legally divorce.

dphillips's avatardphillips

So, she wants to stay on the job, but will she have the peace of mind?  Customers and possible jealous co-workers will be looking at her with envy or hate.  If I were Patricia, I would get out or, if possible, by the place.  Money is nice to have but if you don't have peace of mind, then having money can be detrimental to your health.

spaconbe2

She's lying. She's not gonna stay at her job. who would do it. C'mon

fwlawrence's avatarfwlawrence

I wonder how many years she would have to work in order to make that amount in tips.

freeobama's avatarfreeobama

U.S.A the place where dreams come true!Dance

Rowen's avatarRowen

Luck of the Irish folks Lep

joshuacloak's avatarjoshuacloak

single mother of three young boys,    aka news alert to all adult man who are single and like kids, 

their a massive One on the loose in long island  area , get your fishing poles and go for it!,   all joking aside, glad to see Irish single mom win it for her kids,

thro i would not be shocked if males start leaving their cards aka their phone Number with a tip LOL when she works rofl

hopeful she puts a lot of it in long term investments and has that kind of wealth for the rest of her life,  teach them kids how great inventmest is for their future LOL

i hope  her can just say No to ever idiotic idea, or request for money she gets form now on LOL  , she went public and can now pay the price

myturn's avatarmyturn

Congratulations to her! It's great as she needs the money. I still wonder about splashing her name and photograph all over the media. She will be pestered by people asking if they can "borrow" some money. I hope she is strong enough to say "no". I hope she gets independent professional advice, otherwise, in a few years, we may be reading how is broke and back to square one again.

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