It's said God works in mysterious ways, and never has deli owner Yoseph Lee, 60, been as sure of that as he was this week.
After months of praying daily for divine intervention to bring some money to the religious college he leads, Lee, who also is a Baptist pastor, instead sold a winning lottery ticket to someone else Saturday. The sale, at Lee's 100 Natural Farm deli on Crisfield Road, earned another Yonkers man $17 million and brought Lee just 6 cents, his profit from selling one $1 New York Lotto slip.
The twist? Lee said the winner was so grateful, he is considering donating a cut of his proceeds to Lee's school, the Global Leaders University and Seminary, which has classes in San Diego; Flushing, Queens; Louisiana and Germany, and trains Korean students to become Christian pastors.
"I prayed a long time for a donation to this school," Lee said yesterday, "and now, I think the Lord gave me a blessing."
Lee and his wife, Min Ja Yun Lee, 51, said they believe their store is lucky, in part because the business name the couple registered with the state is Great Grace Supermarket, a religious name that is similar to that of the Nyack church where Yoseph Lee is a pastor.
Of the winner, the Lees, who live in Yonkers, would say only that he is a neighbor of theirs, a humble man who has played the lottery almost daily since their store began selling Lotto tickets about four months ago. They said they were unsure what he planned to do with the rest of his winnings, but Yoseph Lee said he hoped the man also would donate money to community efforts in Yonkers.
"Only our Lord knows," Lee said, pointing up as he sat in the back of his store.
To not get a percentage of the a sold jackpot is ludicrous in NY. But I guess the six cent retail payout is larger than the five cents most states give, but it has to hurt when you sell a big one.
a lot of states have a fixed bonus. it is bad. when the big game jackpot was $363 million (someone check tha accuracy of that for me). the illinois retailer got a check for over $1 million, while the michigan retailer got less than $100,000. there was an article on how the michigan retailer would rather burn his bonus check rather than cash it in.
ok. if the NY Lottery doesn't give their retailers bonuses, then I say we should boycott them. if they don't give their retailers bonuses for selling a wining ticket, then retailers should stop selling tickets. all the NY lottery proceeds pretty much go towards making the drawings look good so they attract players. that's lower than low.
Most states arent as generous with the six cents per ticket sales commission. In Illinois its five cents and then a one percent bonus on anything over 1000 bucks. Id say 90%+ of retailers never even sell a winner on that level. Therefore its six of one half dozen of the other. Of course most retailers would want the 5 cents and the chance at a big payday, but I bet in the end six cents vs five cents and a prayer is pretty much equal.
i think that powerball and mega millions need to have set rules for how lotteries should award retailer bonuses. that way, we won't have to worry about one retailer getting jealous that another retailer got more than them when the other retailer sold a ticket worth the same amount as them. it's bad enough that the new york lottery targets the poor (as much as we don't want to admit it, it happens. you ever wonder why the poorer neighborhoods have a lot of lottery machines? it's no coincidence.), but now they are not even guarenteeing that the retailer that sells a jackpot-winning ticket will get a bonus. they get entered in a drawing foor a bonus, and when a retailer asks who got that bonus, i'm betting the answer the lottery gives is "not you.". maybe if they fired a few people on their drawing team (they have 4 people. they only really need 2), especially yolanda vega. she's annoying, then that would save them quite a bit of money. another way they could save enough money to afford giving a retailer bonus is to not have such high scratch-off ticket payouts. i'm seeing $5 tickets that offer top prizes of over $500,000. lastly, if they are the top-selling lottery in the US, then do they really need to cut back on budgets? they shouldn't, unless the director raises their salary by $10 million each year.
To not get a percentage of the a sold jackpot is ludicrous in NY. But I guess the six cent retail payout is larger than the five cents most states give, but it has to hurt when you sell a big one.
that is crazy that they don't get a percentage........I wonder if its like that in Jersey also
a lot of states have a fixed bonus. it is bad. when the big game jackpot was $363 million (someone check tha accuracy of that for me). the illinois retailer got a check for over $1 million, while the michigan retailer got less than $100,000. there was an article on how the michigan retailer would rather burn his bonus check rather than cash it in.
ok. if the NY Lottery doesn't give their retailers bonuses, then I say we should boycott them. if they don't give their retailers bonuses for selling a wining ticket, then retailers should stop selling tickets. all the NY lottery proceeds pretty much go towards making the drawings look good so they attract players. that's lower than low.
Most states arent as generous with the six cents per ticket sales commission. In Illinois its five cents and then a one percent bonus on anything over 1000 bucks. Id say 90%+ of retailers never even sell a winner on that level. Therefore its six of one half dozen of the other. Of course most retailers would want the 5 cents and the chance at a big payday, but I bet in the end six cents vs five cents and a prayer is pretty much equal.
PA is starting to give bonuses to stores that sell top instant prizes.
i think that powerball and mega millions need to have set rules for how lotteries should award retailer bonuses. that way, we won't have to worry about one retailer getting jealous that another retailer got more than them when the other retailer sold a ticket worth the same amount as them. it's bad enough that the new york lottery targets the poor (as much as we don't want to admit it, it happens. you ever wonder why the poorer neighborhoods have a lot of lottery machines? it's no coincidence.), but now they are not even guarenteeing that the retailer that sells a jackpot-winning ticket will get a bonus. they get entered in a drawing foor a bonus, and when a retailer asks who got that bonus, i'm betting the answer the lottery gives is "not you.". maybe if they fired a few people on their drawing team (they have 4 people. they only really need 2), especially yolanda vega. she's annoying, then that would save them quite a bit of money. another way they could save enough money to afford giving a retailer bonus is to not have such high scratch-off ticket payouts. i'm seeing $5 tickets that offer top prizes of over $500,000. lastly, if they are the top-selling lottery in the US, then do they really need to cut back on budgets? they shouldn't, unless the director raises their salary by $10 million each year.