ALBANY, N.Y. — Seven lucky New York state government workers earned some 'Capitol gains' when their office pool won a whopping $319 million jackpot in Friday night's drawing.
The big winners are information-technology pros who work in Homes and Community Renewal, said sources. The agency has been slammed with more than $30 million in budget cuts.
The brand-new millionaires hit it big with several Quick Pick tickets bought at Coulson's News Center, a century-old family-run convenience store in downtown Albany. They have a year to come forward and claim the prize.
Once the workers lay claim to their millions, they have 60 days to decide if they'll take the money in payments over 25 years, or go for the lump-sum option, which would give them $202.9 million before taxes.
After taxes — 25 percent, or $50.7 million, to Uncle Sam, and 8.97 percent, or $18.2 million, to the state — the workers would split $134 million, or $19.1 million each.
Albany's new millionaires may soon be able to give up their jobs tending to servers and computers at DHCR, said Emanuel Biondi, a union representative with the state Public Employees Federation.
"They're all just middle-class folks," Biondi said. "I'm thrilled for them."
They've also got a newfound sense of financial security their colleagues lack. Albany's budget troubles have left many state workers worried that their jobs are in danger.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo has threatened as many as 9,800 layoffs statewide and ordered every agency to cut its budget by 10 percent. While sources confirmed general details about the winning workers, they didn't provide The Post with any of the workers' names.
One IT supervisor, Duane Averill, said he wasn't sure of the identities of his lucky colleagues — the IT section has dozens of employees. "I'd love to see them win," Averill said, laughing. "I might lose my entire unit, though."
Coulson's store owner Steve Hutchins, 63, will get a $10,000 bonus from the state Lottery for selling the winning ticket.
"It's very neat to know someone who comes into my store is going to be very wealthy from a ticket we sold them," Hutchins said. "It makes me feel warm inside."
The Mega Millions multi-state lottery game is played in 41 states, plus Washington, D.C. and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Friday's jackpot was the 5th highest in the game's history, and the 9th largest for any U.S. lottery game. It is the largest Mega Millions jackpot won by a single ticket.
The largest jackpot of all-time was a $390 million Mega Millions jackpot in March 2007, split by two tickets from Georgia and New Jersey.
The winning numbers in Friday's draw were 22, 24, 31, 52, and 54, with a Mega Ball number of 4. The Megaplier was 4.
Yay! Congrats to the IT geeks. Best of luck to them.
Im truly happy for them. One day I hope I catch a break like that in life.
you don't win.....if you don't play !!! beaudad
"Coulson's store owner Steve Hutchins, 63, will get a $10,000 bonus from the state Lottery for selling the winning ticket."
Is that all they pay stores in NY for a jackpot selling bonus?
In CA, the stores get 1/2 of one percent of the jackpot. In this case would have been about $1,000,000 for the store bonus. Just a tad sweeter than $10,000.
This is another "pool" win. Hope it doesn't end up with "you were supposed to put me in for this week" or any other type of claim.
In these winning pool situations I always wonder about the people who were asked if they wanted to get in the pool and declined because:
"The lottery is such a waste of money".
"Do you know what the odds are on that?"
"No thanks, I work too hard for my money to throw it away on pipe dreams."
I can understand being sensible and realistic but sometimes cheapskates just use that as an excuse to be a tightwad.
I never could stand being around a cheapskate.
With the economy being so down, I hope that some of them will leave their jobs so that unemployed people with similar skills can find work.
I'm happy for the winners and I hope the money brings them joy.
Yeah, exactly. This weekend, there is some poor IT guy doing server backups at DHCR instead of at home celebrating, who when asked by one of his lucky 7 co-workers if he wanted to join the lotto pool said, "Nah, I'm good dude, but you guys have at it." Man, that's gotta hurt!
If a co-worker or neighbor hits it big, is your lottery karma all used up for this life?
Congrats to the lucky 7!! This powerball jackpot belongs to me and me only!!!
I'm actually very glad it was hit by a group.
One person getting 100-200 million is just so much. Splitting it up 7 in a group is just so awesome.
100-200 million may seem like a lot of capital but it can be spent just as quick as it came!!
I highly doubt NY will win this powerball jackpot,NY won 2 of the last 3 powerball jackpots and they just won the Mega Millions!!
wow thtas great that they won ...
Yep, too many cooks spoil the stew. I'd rather throw down some extra cash and take it all home.
I dunno which kills me more
the fact that the numerous tickets were bought @ such an old store or the fact it was a 7 way split amongst IT GEEKS
I think it is the 7 way split!!Too many fingers in the cookie jar!!
I dont understand why guys here are so against many people pooling together to play and actually winning. I mean, all of them will earn millions of dollars after all is said and done. Is a shared jackpot not a jackpot? And even if some guy in the group didnt put in his share and sues to claim some of the pot, it still is a lot of money.
Dont sweat the small stuff
........looks like "Uncle Sam" is also a big winner here....it's pathetic how much the winner has to give away before they even get any !!.........
This article here says the winners bought SEVERAL Quick picks and considering the respond that nickey t posted yesterday regarding how much New Yorkers spend on lotteries, i can't help but wonder how many quick picks this group brought. Does anyone know yet? Just curious
Again as big as they spend on lotteries, obviously, the the state is making big bucks off lottery, why are they paying the store so low? I guess Big spenders = low payers. That's a shame
Congrats to the winners. Nice to see so many get to share the wealth.
It seems awfully generous to me. It's 10 grand more than they get for every other ticket they sell, and it's for exactly the same amount of work. I really don't undertand why the lottery just *gives* money away. I doubt that any businesses are making the decision of whether or not they want to be a retailer based on the very small chance that they'll sell a jackpoot winner, so what does the state get for their money?
Of course, retailers do not enter into lottery contracts based on the contingency of selling a jackpot winner. Their primary income will be the 6% on ticket sales, but also the 0.5% of top prizes is across the board on most draw games.(up to $1,000,000 max) The merits of the larger top prize selling bonus are debatable, but the higher profits can give them more of an incentive to increase sales and to actually want their customers to win. That can help them with a positive attitude with a smile and a "good luck" to the customers they sell to if anything.
As far as earning it, unfortunately the entire lottery system is a bit of an unfair collective. Hard work or how much someone paid into the system has no relation to either their odds of winning or their ability to collect on a large jackpot. It may seem unfair when we hear of a large jackpot going to some deadbeat druggie wifebeater, or someone who has only just started playing and paid only a small amount of money into the lottery pool, but that's the way it is. If a miniscule portion of the overall lottery funds goes to a good retailer as a nice bonus, I'm OK with that.
Since I didn't win it glad that a group did, spread the wealth. Also if just one person were to win and they let the money control them it'd be another case of Jack Whitaker where the opportunity just goes to waste. Hope these people make the most of this amazing opportunity.
Gonna see if I can take home the PB jackpot or even the new MM, both would be great. With $50M I could spread it around friends/family/charity while with the MMs jackpot of $5M I can go about living a quiet life.
I never could stand on roller skates...hehehe
Seriously, congrats to the winners!
we should start a sweepstakes,
how long untill the law suits start on this one.
i 'll take april 22
I hope that they enjoy paying the enormous taxes that it takes to pay State Employees!
IT types tend to be anal-ytical so perhaps they have their ducks in a row (email signup and verification of payment for particular draw).
Coulson's store owner Steve Hutchins, 63, will get a $10,000 bonus from the state Lottery for selling the winning ticket.
"It's very neat to know someone who comes into my store is going to be very wealthy from a ticket we sold them," Hutchins said. "It makes me feel warm inside."
I can't say I share Mr. Hutchins sentiments...actually, anytime I see that my winning tickets don't match those numbers drawn, I feel quite cold inside. Then again, I don't expect to win but it sure would be nice if I did win....heck even the drawing for Tuesday would be most welcomed into my bank account.
I agree with your thoughts in the first paragraph, but not the second one. I don't care what the cash value jackpot amount I take home, be it $50M or $5million, I have no friends I could see "giving" any of it to. Of course, I would take care of my mother and brother (I have 3 as well as 3 sisters...trust me, I would not even begin to put myself out there as the family bank because 1 bro and 1 sis in particular would drain me penniless). And the only charities I would support are my own charity...and maybe a little to my college alma mater. But that is it. Why? The best way to experience financial security in America is to either work for the government (just ask Barack Obama or any other federal/state worker) or to run a charitable organization (yes, this includes churches...especially churches and religious organizations).
On a side note, if I were to win, I would want to be like Jack (Whitaker).
Not really, but I would have so much fun as a jackpot millionaire. And I would purposely go on TLC's "How The Lottery Changed My Life" to state "Yes MONEY CAN BUY you happiness...when I didn't have a lot of money, I wasn't happy. Now that I am richer than I ever could have become through working, I am always so happy when I drive my new luxury car, step inside my marvelous luxury home, fly first class everywhere I go, stay in the poshest hotels, and only concern myself about the management of the money God allowed me to win." Yes indeed, money can buy you happiness!!!
I always hope for 1 person to win because it drives the greed of envy crowd nuts!
We do know one thing,someone has bought a $319 million winning ticket from Coulson's News Center,in Albany,New York .This is a mainstay down town news service and convenience store. The news media got on it over the weekend, when the lottery offices was closed.I been looking for a confirmation that seven government office workers did win the Mega Millions jackpot.Congratulations to the winner or winners !!!
awesome, 7 more millionaires. congrats,congrats,congrats
I'm your huckleberry...
I'm proud to stand up and take one for the team.
Congrats to all the winners......
How do they even know it was this group of people that won it, if they havent come forward yet?
Seems very specific that they know it was a group of 7 people from this business.
So much for anynimity.
Congrats to them though...great to see fellow IT folk winning some love! (even though me and 3 other comrades also *tried* to have our hand in the jar too
Even better is ... 7 more net MULTI-millionaires! The difference means retirement from some daily grind
The facts are: They won, and millions of ticket holders lost. I get to sit amongst more folks that lost then the few that won. Consider me a lucky loser :)
I care zilch for a group win...thats seven more problems, I'll take one problem and solve it myself :)
As a member of I can win it alone, I stand firm in the beleif that one person can make sensible decisions.
I am curious if "we the people" in essence regulate govtment thru our voting, which one of us here voted for these ridiculous high taxes? I am sure I was asleep at the wheel on that voting day.....or I was out buying a lottery ticket :)
"...which one of us here voted for these ridiculous high taxes?"
That's an easy one.
Anyone who voted for the Democrats voted for ridiculously high taxes.
Not that there's anything necessarily wrong with that.
Some people actually want ridiculously high taxes and it's their right to vote for that.
And it's the nature of the Democrats to give it to them.
Dems may historically vote for higher taxes but in the "scheme" of things....
Excellent graphic so that people can visually see what politicians, no matter which "side," end up forming an amalgamation of [history has shown us that several have changed "party sides" during their lifetime, afterall!]. It is possible that, initially, the politician has 'some idea' of what to do if elected; yet if you later research, the majority end up "conforming," which means that results are a culmination of essentially no help to the citizens of that country. It took me decades to understand this, unfortunately. It is why many adults don't vote anymore; they realize that "far-away" government hasn't actually helped them that much through the centuries.
That is why many folks have come to the conclusion that, though we shouldn't eliminate FEDERAL "governing", it should probably be halved ... including the Federal Department of the Internal Revenue Service.
Congratulations to them winning the jackpot. I didn't know why the Mega Millions Jackpot rise from $312 to $319 million?
I was hoping this jackpot rolls to a record $418 million but oh well..! lately the pb and mm jackpot has only been hitting in New York, California and Ohio, are these the lucky states? or does people gamble more in these states? I dont even remember the last time it was hit in Wisconsin. <-- Bad luck state.
More ticket sales equal more winners and more losers, simple as that.
As far as Wisconsin being a bad luck state, the only thing I can figure is that the fumes from all the cheese (primarily the Limburger) put the whole state into kind of a catatonic malaise.
And that's never a good thing.
That is a nice retirement for them. Congrats to the winners.-weshar75
Considering the fact that they are State "Workers", they were already in the process of pillaging the tax payers for a plush retirement!
Congrats to the big winners. Remember the Lucky 7 co-workers from California who won$315 in Mega Millions in 2005. Lawsuits from co-workers and ex-husbands from the past all had their hands out. Happy to see more than one person got to share the massive jackpot. But my lottery pool consist of 1 player. Me.
"I didn't know why the Mega Millions Jackpot rise from $312 to $319 million?"
I'd venture to say they maybe sold a few more tickets.
Just a wild guess.
A shot in the dark.
Congrats to the lucky 7......praying others will be able to say congrats to me too!!!!
That is so great for you to say that. I congratulate each person that won!!! Enjoy your riches!!!