Rocco Derrigo said his wife, Jean, convinced him to play the lottery regularly.
"She said, 'You'll never win.' I had to prove her wrong," the Floral Drive resident joked.
Score one for Rocco.
The retired New York Air Brake worker won $250,000 when he nailed five out of six numbers Tuesday in the Mega Millions lottery.
Mr. Derrigo said he double-checked his numbers before erupting into celebration and calling as many of his 10 siblings as he could reach to share the good news.
"I found out that I have 72 favorite nieces already," he said.
The lucky ticket — as well as some losing stubs — came from the quick pick machine at the ExpressMart, 1268 Arsenal St. The winning numbers were 2, 4, 9, 15 and 42.
"The ninth month is my birthday. And 1942 is my birth year," said Mr. Derrigo. "I didn't pick them at all, but I like them."
Mr. Derrigo missed only the Mega Ball, which would have upped his win to $12 million. The 66-year-old said he was thrilled with his winnings and unconcerned about missing the jackpot.
"We're going to use that for retirement," he said. "We'd also like to buy a nice car, the normal stuff that people do with extra money."
The winner said he and wife live off Social Security and his Air Brake pension, but intend to share his winnings with their family. The Derrigos have three children.
This isn't the first time the numbers have turned up for Mr. Derrigo. He said he won about $650 playing the lottery two decades ago, and took in about $1,500 in a second win.
"I buy five tickets. If the Mega Millions gets up there, I'll buy $10 worth," he said of his strategy. "I don't go overboard."
Mr. Derrigo said he has no intention of stopping now that he's won again.
"I want to win Friday night," he said.
Thanks to petergrfn for the tip.
Wtg. $250,000. is not a bad piece of change.
WTG!!!
#250,000 iw qlot of bread, but there will be big taxes. IT WILL FEEL GOOD TO WIN IT THOUGH
I have always wondered. If people don't support you when you're buying the lotto tickets, do you still give them money when you win? I am saying this because some people can be so discouraging even telling somebody to their face that "lottery is a waste of money" some of those people could be your family!
WTG !!!
i would most definitely not, but i'ts a personal decision. if i only won $250,000 before taxes i wouldn't give anybody any. Well maybe buy my kids new TVs. But after I paid off my house and bought a car there wouldn't be much left. I still can't understand why people think they are entitled to your $$$ if you win it.
I completely agree with you, some people can be very discouraging. But we have to know that what people say doesn't make a difference. If you weere going to win, you will still win no matter what mother suckers will be like a stalker on ur ass begging for money. I have two word for them. <snip> all
I've alway figured the chance of winning a large lottery prize is so remote that thinking about who I'm not sharing it with is a waste of time. Beside, the only support any one could give me is money to buy tickets which I don't need or want. If I'm ever lucky to win a large lottery prize, it's not going take long for me to figure out who I want to share it with.
I hate this mindset. Yes, the odds are bad, but it's not like it's costing thousands. At the very least, it adds excitement to life, knowing that you could be holding a ticket worth millions. What does those people spend their money on?
Booze?Wild women?It really doesn't matter because when I win a jackpot I won't share with them or their type.
I agree. My dad always tells me how i'm throwing my $$$ away. I think he's doing the same with beer and cigarettes. That costs way more than my bi weekly numbers plus $20 once in a while for QPs when the JP gets high
Congratulations to Mr. Derrigo!!! You kept the faith of winning one of the BIGGER prizes going for OVER two decades ... that motivates me to faith of winning first two prizes going forward.
That showed her. Gotta believe in your lover's dream.
Wow, why am I not surprised that another person who won goes and runs their mouth to everybody they possibly know. 72 favorite nieces? Come on now, I bet you before you won the Mega Millions this guy most likely had a percentage of 72 favorite nieces before that especially since he collects social security benefits and everybody knows that social security barely pays enough to pay your bills with. I guess the reason that I'm commenting on this story is to just give everybody some friendly advice: If/when you win a large amount of money on the Mega Millions, please do not tell anybody other than your spouse if you have one because when you have a lot of money you will see that you have friends that you never knew even existed until they find out you won big money. Another thing, claim your prize anonymously so that you don't have people that knew you from the past either trying to be your new best friend or coming after you because you have money. Just thought that this may help with anybody that's thinking of claiming a prize with their name on it. Just my ideas and suggestions coming from somebody with plenty of wisdom, but do as you please because ignorance is bliss and I can't force another person nor will I attempt to force somebody to take my advice. Good day!
No, diamondpalace, this story about the winner actually "showed" the opposite reality -- that folks DO WIN who have nobody else beliving in their dream/obsession (s)!!!
This is great news for the many loners, broken, and/or abandoned lottery players of the world.
Nice story. Makes you think if he HAD the support of his mate, could he have won the BIG ONE?
Bad Chi is the worst thing to have around you. Once you make a commitment to another person IT's ALL THE WAY BABE! I wonder if this partner browbeats him in other ways??
I actually would not be celebrating if I missed $12 million by one number. You need to go the rest of your life knowing how close you were to the jackpot that you missed. $250,000 is good if you are playing for that, not if you are going for $12 million though.