Vacationing man wins $1M scratch-off lottery jackpot
Most folks pick up a T-shirt or a mug commemorating their vacation, but Wilman Bravo of Puerto Rico is bringing home a fat wad of green after winning $1 million on a scratch-off lottery ticket.
Bravo, 66, spent 40-plus years raising his three children and working as a press operator in central Connecticut before retiring to Sabana Hoyos, Puerto Rico, last year. He returned to the Constitution State last week to visit his kids.
On Wednesday, Bravo popped into one of his old favorite pit sto ...
Jul 23, 2010, 8:44 am - - Lottery News forum
Lottery winner doesn't have to share
Judge: Woman, 87, doesn't have to split windfall with sister
An elderly Connecticut woman does not have to share her half of a $500,000 lottery windfall with her sister who sued her over it, a judge ruled Wednesday.
Eighty-seven-year-old Rose Bakaysa and her 84-year-old sister, Theresa Sokaitis, have been fighting over the money in court since 2005. That was shortly after Bakaysa and their brother won the Powerball jackpot.
Sokaitis argued they had signed a notarized contract a decade e ...
May 12, 2010, 7:40 pm - - Lottery News forum
Sisters' lottery jackpot trial begins today
The lottery numbers that sisters Theresa Sokaitis and Rose Bakaysa had played together for years finally paid off in 2005, yielding a $500,000 Powerball jackpot.
But for whom?
Sokaitis, 84, of Middletown, Connecticut, claims she never saw a dime of that money and sued her older sister. This morning, their dispute over the jackpot will go to trial before a judge at Superior Court in New Britain.
I love my sister and I feel bad this is all getting dragged into court, but I have children ...
Mar 23, 2010, 9:36 am - - Lottery News forum
States go all in, expand gaming to plug the budget
Faced with a drop in gambling revenue, states are adding games, considering new casinos and increasing lottery options anything to keep their cut of the profits rolling in.
States are adamant that they don't want to take advantage of anyone, but with budgets in free-fall and tax increases a losing hand politically, lawmakers acknowledge they are dependent on gambling dollars.
At least 18 states this year are looking to expand games of chance because of a drop-off of anywhere from 5 to 14 p ...
Mar 15, 2010, 9:24 pm - - Lottery News forum
CT Gov. faces challenges bringing Keno to state
Faced with strong skepticism from the Democrat-controlled legislature, the Rell administration started talks last week with Connecticut's two Indian tribes so that the state can legalize keno a gambling game that is currently offered in the casinos.
Gov. M. Jodi Rell believes that keno is a lottery-style game and that the state's quasi-public lottery corporation can begin the game without approval by the legislature in the same way that it can start other lottery games. Officials said keno is ...
Mar 3, 2010, 8:36 am - - Lottery News forum
Connecticut lottery players' prize claim period cut in half
From now on, Connecticut Lottery winners will have six months less time to claim their prizes, in a change expected to reap $6.1 million in unclaimed prize money for the cash-starved state government during the first year.
Effective Aug. 2, the Connecticut Lottery Corp. adopted a prize redemption period of 180 days, discarding the longtime claim period of 365 days.
Last year, $604 million in Connecticut Lottery winnings were awarded and $13 million went unclaimed, roughly in line with the ...
Aug 13, 2009, 1:05 am - - Lottery News forum
$500K lottery prize divides two elderly sisters
A passion for gambling shared by two once-inseparable octogenarian sisters has ended up dividing them, with the Connecticut Supreme Court ruling that one can sue the other for a share of a winning $500,000 lottery ticket.
The court said 83-year-old Theresa Sokaitis, of Middletown, can try to enforce a written contract she signed with her 87-year-old sister, Rose Bakaysa, of Plainville, agreeing to split any gambling winnings.
Sokaitis says she is due a share of a $500,000 Powerball jackpot ...
Aug 11, 2009, 9:27 pm - - Lottery News forum
CT Lottery partners with Giants for new scratch game
The New York Giants are now in the lottery business.
Monday the team announced a partnership with the Connecticut Lottery Corporation to launch a Giants-branded scratch-off ticket game later this month.
License agreements between lotteries and NFL teams became possible after a vote by league owners at their May meetings. It's just one of the new ways NFL owners have found to enhance their bottom line in these tough financial times.
The new lottery game is also expected to add $1 million ...
Aug 4, 2009, 11:39 pm - - Lottery News forum
Conn. AG urges changes before allowing Keno
Attorney General Richard Blumenthal advised Connecticut legislators Monday to amend the state's memoranda of understanding with two federally recognized Indian tribes before attempting to legalize Keno in the state.
He said the proposal to bring Keno to Connecticut, suggested last week by Gov. M. Jodi Rell as a way to raise about $60 million a year in new revenue, could risk the $400 million the casinos provide the state annually in slot machine revenues.
Under that memoranda between the t ...
Jun 2, 2009, 6:48 am - - Lottery News forum
Connecticut man sues friend for share of lottery prize
A Connecticut man is suing a friend for a share of a $1 million lottery jackpot.
Armando Martins of Trumbull claims that he and Nuno Nascimento of Bridgeport had an agreement to buy lottery tickets every week and to share if they won.
Martins says he gave his friend $75 each week to buy tickets. On April 1, Martins said he only has $74 for his share.
The lawsuit says that evening one of the tickets that Nascimento bought at a local grocery store was a $1 million Powerball winne ...
May 15, 2009, 9:06 pm - - Lottery News forum
