Winner knew something great was headed his way
By Kate Northrop
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — One single lottery player was crowned the biggest winner in the MetLife Stadium on Sunday when he won the $1 million grand prize in the final draw of the New Jersey Lottery's second chance promotion.
At the culmination of a second chance promotion for the New Jersey Lottery's Jersey Cash 5 game, one player beat out all the rest to win a $1 million prize at the heart of the MetLife Stadium.
After the New Jersey Lottery's "Another Millionaire" promotion went live in early October, Hector Torres became the one player to take home the gold.
The promotion consisted of four separate drawings that each selected five winners at random. Players would enter the promotion with Jersey Cash 5 tickets with the XTRA add-on they purchased.
The 20 winners from all four drawings were each awarded a $500 prize, as well as two suite-level tickets to attend the New York Jets game this past Sunday for a chance to win a $1 million grand prize in person.
When halftime rolled around, the 20 participants were assigned random numbers, and they were directed down to field level for the drawing that would determine who among them would go home with the $1 million prize.
Torres felt he knew the stars were aligned for him, he told the Lottery. Something good was coming his way.
"I don't know why, but right away I felt it," Torres explained in a press release. "It was surreal, being there in the stadium at halftime, all these eyes on you. When it came down to it [the winning number being drawn], I couldn't believe it. What an amazing feeling."
Torres is a chief utility lineman with 34 years of service, and he's positive the prize will be "life altering."
"My son's in college, and that's my hurdle right there — the financial responsibility," he elaborated to Lottery staff. "I was paying for [college], working a lot of overtime. I know he's elated, because he knows how hard we've been working for him."
The New Jersey resident grew up in Queens, New York, near the Jets' former home at Shea Stadium before the team moved to the MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. He recalled attending their final home game in Queens in 1983, a wildly different experience than what transpired on Sunday.
"What an amazing feeling, everything was set up so well," Torres remarked of the second chance event. "It would've been a great experience," even if he didn't win, he added.
The Jersey Cash 5 jackpot currently stands at $1.89 million for the next drawing on Tuesday, Dec. 2. Drawings take place every day at 10:57 p.m. Eastern Time. Tickets cost $2. A courier service offers online purchases with a service fee.
All Jersey Cash 5 winning numbers, prizes, and odds can be found on Lottery Post's New Jersey Lottery Results page right after each drawing.
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Congrats Hector, that must have been real fun.
I dunno how Hector's heart survived the entire day. I can see the top of his Jets jersey in the photo, so he's a card carrying Gang Green member.
The 3 and 9 Jets WON the game on a walk off field goal. I'm sure he wasn't expecting The Jets to win the game either. Wonder if he's still alive? Ya know, a human heart can only take so much.... G5
34 years of going up in a cherry picker bucket would have been the end of that for me. Early retirement Brother.
OK Todd and Kate....Mega Millions won in your state. One day it'll be you guys (if not now!)
Congrats to Mr. Torres, Hector amongst our good company.
Speaking of Hector, I'll call him Hec for short.... I hear he regularly eats either liverwurst or oliveloaf sandwiches for lunch. Go figure!
Could Hec also be the winner of last night's MegaMillions ? Time will tell but if he had his sandwich the day he purchased the ticket I wouldn't bet against it being so.
Have a shaggy day!
ShagE3