Man throws away winning lottery ticket, but still collects

Comment #23

jigzy516 — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 01:28:30 GMT

kryptonite along with green laterns ring. AINT NOBODY COMING CLOSE TO IT

Comment #22

JAP69 — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 02:27:19 GMT

Now why am I addressing someone who'll never even see this topic? Maybe I should have thought of that first.... Oh well.

You never know who visits this site at any time.

Comment #21

LckyLary — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 02:15:20 GMT

Once I found a stray MM ticket in a parking lot, at night, under an SUV, with a future draw date, and turned it in at the Store desk. It ended up to be a $7 winner. Imagine if 1. it had won a jackpot and 2. if I had not seen it and the Winter wind took it wherever.

One thing is I don't remember the NY LOTTO reaching 65M anytime since NY got MM. Perhaps it was a Mega Millions win? was there a MM winner in Queens about a year ago

Comment #20

mken32 — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 22:54:58 GMT

Why would you keep a log on losing tickets, somebody help me here...... maybe for Tax purpose, Just another reminder how much money you lost.

Comment #19

LottoAce — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 13:49:27 GMT

He is really fortunate to have won and been able to collect.

you have to remember that lotterys are not responsible for lost tickets. that is why I keep all my tickets, and log the ticket numbers in my journal. I'm surprised that this matter didn't see the inside of a courtroom.

But hey, he's living the American Dream....he's truly free now. no one owns his time, or directs the works of his hands. that in my opinion makes him a very blessed man.

Comment #18

DC81 — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 02:38:10 GMT

He said he wasn't sure exactly what he was going to do with the money except pay his daughter's college tuition. And he isn't ready to quithis job.

But..... He had a year to figure this out... Granted he didn't know if he'd get the money or not but it seems like some plan could have been put in place and not ready to quit his job? RIIIIIIIIGHT.

For now I'm going back to work. At least until I can find someone toreplace me. It's hard to leave a job you love, he said.

Yup,... [ More ]

Comment #17

Captain Lotto — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 20:04:47 GMT

Good point, Todd. I always sign my tickets right after I purchase them. Cuts down on the confusion.

I think their unclaimed prizes are rather large, but I'm not surpised that there are some. Think about all the $1 winners that go unnoticed or forgotten. It adds up

Comment #16

Todd — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 17:28:30 GMT

The other important thing is to sign the back of the ticket. That way if someone picked it out of the trash, they couldn't claim it themselves.

Comment #15

Todd — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 17:26:20 GMT

HA! Thanks for the laugh

Comment #14

RJOh — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 16:19:02 GMT

He probably thought he had safely stored it until he got home. Had he not pursued his claim with his verification receipt, that ticket might have shown up. Sounds like NY Lottery waited for someone to show up with the ticket and explain why Martinez had the verification receipt. They might have done some jail time with out a believable story.

Comment #13

RJOh — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 15:47:51 GMT

Linda Holley, the health-care worker was the lucky one, she was able to quietly collect her $19M jackpot while Degli Martinez got all the attention. That's almost as good as collecting it anonymously

Comment #12

Sandra Dee — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 15:38:39 GMT

wow, this is my kind of story!!! i never get a friggin' receipt for my numbers, nj lottery sucks! [unless i win] ... anyway, you mean to tell me he's about to be richer then, possibly, most of the people in the building where he and wifey work? WOW! now they have their american dream story!! love it!! i wish them the very best - i love it when people ine these sucky jobs [did housekeeping in college and believe me it sucks] get rewarded!! TGIF and someone is going to be debt free! now, we just n... [ More ]

Comment #11

tntea — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 14:19:57 GMT

I am very happy for the couple. I bet waiting a year was really hard.

Comment #10

Littleoldlady — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 11:21:24 GMT

What he did do right was to validate the ticket. That is how he got his money. By validating it, the computers picked it up that the jackpot winning ticket had been turned in. If he hadn't validated it, he would be SOL.

Comment #9

jeffrey — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 03:19:27 GMT

I'm surprised they didn't tell him tough. They have done that in the past. He was lucky twice.

Comment #8

ThatScaryChick — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 03:14:04 GMT

I agree! This guy is very lucky. He may have went through a tough year, but I am sure he is happy now. Congrats to him

Comment #7

justxploring — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 02:57:18 GMT

Wow, $70M annually is a lot. I forget how much the annual total for FL is, but there have been several very large unclaimed jackpots. The largest single ticket that was never claimed was for $53.7 million.

I agree with Todd about the handling of the situation and am happy to read that the NY Lottery did the right thing. I wonder if this man was in shock when he threw away his ticket. I wouldn't go near a trash can after winning a jackpot either. But I check my numbers at home anyway. I'd be... [ More ]

Comment #6

mken32 — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 02:37:21 GMT

wow..... for a whole year of waiting congrats to you and ur family....

Comment #5

duckman — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 02:30:21 GMT

Hope he doesn't throw away the check

Comment #4

GamerMom — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 02:05:05 GMT

$70 million in prize money goes unclaimed annually

How in the WORLD does that happen!?!? People are morons

Comment #3

Todd — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 01:51:04 GMT

Congrats to the NY Lottery for handling the situation well. I can't believe that guy could throw away the ticket. I would encase the thing in kryptonite to protect it.

Comment #2

MaddMike51 — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 01:41:46 GMT

Talk about ladyluck sitting on your shoulder!! Most state lotterys would say:No ticket,no millions for you.

Comment #1

BabyJC — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 01:08:48 GMT

I don't understand where he lost the ticket - in his trash can at home or at the store's trash can?- Wouldn't they then dump it out and be able to find it as not much time had passed? Very peculiar, and I can't imagine having to tell a spouse that you immediately lost a multi-million dollar lottery ticket. Also, quit the job already - That is unbelievable

Man throws away winning lottery ticket, but still collects

Lottery Post — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 00:53:06 GMT

Lottery waits until 1-year claim deadline expires before awarding

Sometimes Lady Luck is slow-footed.

Degli Martinez, 55, of Queens, New York, claimed the biggest single Lotto jackpot in state history on Wednesday, a $65 million prize that took over a year and a police probe before he was allowed to have it.

It was a lot of pain waiting, said the 55-year-old Paraguayan immigrant at a lower Manhattan press conference. You never know whether you're going to get the money.

A maint... [ More ]