Potentially sour encounter with other driver is "blessing" in disguise
By Kate Northrop
SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. — A New Jersey resident was not in the mood to engage with road rage during a traffic stall, and the strategy of avoidance led to a $600,000 lottery win instead.
A New Jersey lottery player turned a potentially sour encounter on the road into a positive happenstance when they decided to take a detour to avoid a traffic dispute.
On June 3, traffic through Essex County was congested, much to the displeasure of one anonymous New Jersey resident just looking to run some errands.
"I was on Valley Street in South Orange," the player recalled. "There was a car stopped there. And I was just waiting. I honked. Rather than moving, [the driver] just sat there, and I could tell he was glaring at me. I did not want the drama, so I decided to pull into the 7-11 that was right there. I said to myself 'Let me go get a lottery ticket.'"
They satisfied their craving for lottery games and purchased a variety of tickets: a Pick 3 ticket, Pick 4 ticket, and a $30 "Colossal Crossword" scratch-off ticket. The draw game tickets both won a nice sum, the Pick 3 and Pick 4 plays totaling $100 in combined winnings, but it was the instant game that made those prizes look like pennies.
"I couldn't see the words at first," the winner told the New Jersey Lottery. "Then I saw I got, three... four and kept going. When I got to seven, I couldn't breathe."
Ten completed words later, and the player was staring at a top-prize winning ticket. They scanned the ticket using the Lottery's mobile app, and that's when they realized that a bitter situation had turned in their favor.
"I'm thankful to the person that caused me to stop," the player said in a press release. "In chaos, there's a blessing."
This wasn't the first time the winner received a "blessing" in the lottery — they had recently won several prizes of $5,000, $1,000, and $700 over the past few months.
"Maybe six months ago, I had a dream that I was going to win in the 'Colossal Crossword,' so I started buying that," the winner revealed. "But, if it hadn't been for that other car, I wouldn't have stopped."
The winnings from the prize will do well to help the patient New Jersey driver live easier and take a much-needed breath.
"I'm at the point where it's really great to be able to eliminate my debts and help my kids a little," they added.
The player collected the first of three available top prizes of $600,000 in the $30 "Colossal Crossword" scratch-off game, which launched in April. There are also two out of three second-tier prizes of $25,000 and 22 out of 36 third-tier prizes of $2,000 left to claim.
They turned a negative into a positive.
Congrats!
I mean really,
What are the odds of getting a winning ticket in each of the games you played all at once?
Ridiculous, Congrats to the lucky winner.
Guess it was meant for them to win something.
Good point!
These people must spend over 200.00 a day on the lottery I guess. But still, hitting a pik 3 and pik 4 which in NJ are two separate draws along with selecting a 600k scratch ticket I find not possible but also not believable either.
Since the Pick 3 and Pick 4 combined only netted them around $100.00, they must have played them for .50 cents boxed.
It's called being in the right place at the right time. Congrats!!
i like this guy.
You could be very right, I think we got folks that spend a lot on the lottery.
There is the other story of the active duty army guy that put $100 and won the jackpot in Pennsylvania I believe.
I think I need to up my $2 PB play pattern 🤣 maybe do $10 a draw lol.
Nway, I know that there are people that play hundreds of dollars and don't win anything, so will stick with my conservative play 🤣
I don't want the PB or MM jackpots so I stick to my beloved Cash 5 and state lotto dividing an equal amount into both. I think you should go a little deeper than 3 PB plays a week. That matrix though is discouraging to do more than double your play there. Most cash 5 games are daily now so on the days there is no PB you want to have something going.
Great story from New Jersey!
Now onto me. This morning taking my $21 Mega Millions to cash in machine. I looked down and it said that machine had a $15 credit....so I played it. Never cashed the MM ticket for more. One of the employees was out emptying many trash cans in the gas area. She came up to me and said a lady was playing and 'would be right back'. Well she asked me to leave the $15 @ register. I waited 1/2 hour for her. Asked Tabitha if she was working tomorrow and if lady never came back could I have my money back. She said yes.
So my question to LP members what would you have done? Was thinking if I had left as soon as I bought them, the lady would be SOL?
I would have done the same thing. Did the lady come back?
Yes, she did. Asked if she said anything after getting the $15 returned and she said nothing.
How about Powerball, on another subject? Jackpot went up a measly bit from Saturday!
That's a shame. I don't play Powerball too often. I hope that someone from Lottery Post wins the jackpot.
The Daily 3 is my game.