'Hand of fate' intervened, as another customer swiped the ticket he was supposed to get
By Todd Northrop
SCHENECTADY, N.Y. — When Mike Barth reached for a Snickers bar as he stood at the counter to buy a Mega Millions lottery ticket, someone reached over his shoulder and bought the next ticket.
"I thought about saying something but decided to just let it slide," Barth said about the Quick Pick ticket sold right before the one he purchased at 2:40 p.m. last Friday.
"I bought the next ticket — the winning ticket!"
So the "fickle finger of fate," as he called it today, turned Barth, who also purchased a Quick Pick ticket where the computer randomly chooses numbers, and his six fellow state IT workers into millionaires when they won the $319 million Mega Millions jackpot on Friday night.
The seven winners are:
- John Hilton, 57, of North Greenbush (Rensselaer County)
- Gabrielle Mahar, 29, of Colonie (Albany County)
- John Kutey, 54, of Green Island (Albany County)
- Tracy Sussman, 41, of Colonie (Albany County)
- Mike Barth, 63, of Bethlehem (Albany County)
- Kristin Baldwin, 42, of Clifton Park (Saratoga County)
- Leon Peck, 62, of Johnstown (Fulton County)
The "Albany Seven" made their first public appearance at a news conference this morning holding oversized posters of the winning ticket. The co-workers traded in those cards for seven oversized checks, each bearing their name, as family and friends applauded.
The group gathered around a large cake that resembled the winning ticket.
"We’ve been playing the big jackpots for years," recalled Barth, who was in Buffalo over the weekend and thought his co-workers were calling him because the computer servers were down in the office.
Hilton said he hid the winning ticket in two plastic bags and a bucket of bird feed inside his basement for the weekend.
Hilton said the $319,000,000 pot was the kind of jackpot that made it worth throwing in the usual $2 per person. "We usually start playing when the jackpot hits $100,000,000," he said, adding, "We're pretty buttoned up. We keep a checklist of who's in and who's out for any particular drawing. You've got to."
Each of the seven will get a lump sum of $28.9 million before taxes, or $19.1 million, after taxes.
The group said there were some co-workers who had played in the past who chose not to play this time. None of them said they are ready to retire at this point.
"It hasn't really sunk in yet," said Hilton.
Gabrielle Mahar was the first of the group's members to discover the seven had the winning combination worth $319,000,000. "I was up late reading and wanted to catch the numbers but missed them. I was dialing up the Lottery website on my phone when the numbers scrolled across the screen. I was dumbfounded." She hesitated before calling her current (soon to be former) supervisor Kristin Baldwin. "It was late. What if it wasn't real? I didn't know what to do," Mahar said.
Mahar said she "checked it, and rechecked it and rechecked it" while holding a photocopy of the winning ticket.
The phone chain reached Leon Peck early the next morning. "We're IT people. We get calls all the time about malfunctioning servers so I figured that was why my phone was ringing so early in the morning," Peck, the usual office prankster, thought the call might be pay back for one too many wise cracks made in the office. "But, I didn't think anyone would be calling that early on a Saturday just to play a joke on me." Tracy Sussman said she shared Peck's initial reaction to receiving an early Saturday morning call from a co-worker. "I got on the phone and said, 'What's wrong now?'"
Although Mega Millions winners have 60 days from the date they claim their prize to decide if they want to receive the annuity payment or the cash value of that annuity, the close-knit group was sure upon arriving at the Lottery's offices that they would share the lump sum amount of $202,797,203. "We met as a group with a financial advisor the day before. We were all in agreement about the lump sum," Baldwin said. Each group member will receive a one-time payment totaling $28,971,029 before state and federal tax withholdings. The net value of each check will total $19,129,571.
The group's immediate plans for the money run the gamut.
For Mahar, it means a new dishwasher.
For Barth it's a set of new tires and a college education for his son "not based on where he can go, but where he wants to go," said the father of a graduating high school senior.
John Hilton said he's taking the celebrity approach to his new fortune, "I just want to fly somewhere in first class," he said.
For John Kutey, the choice is simple, "My wife and I are going to every Disney Park there is!" The others have yet to make up their minds.
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To the Lucky 7 Cheers!!!
So happy for them.
I wish them all the best.
This proves there is a GOD and HE hates ugly.... lol
HE proved it by letting the knuckle head that swiped the first ticket, purchase a losing ticket.
Poetic justice.
Losing ticket purchased by a rude loser. lol
BEAUTIFUL!!!!!
Congratulations to all the winners. ENJOY !
When Mike Barth reached for a Snickers bar as he stood at the counter to buy a Mega Millions lottery ticket, someone reached over his shoulder and bought the next ticket.
"I thought about saying something but decided to just let it slide," Barth said about the Quick Pick ticket sold right before the one he purchased at 2:40 p.m. last Friday.
"I bought the next ticket — the winning ticket!"
That right there, just put a smile on my face. Thats why people in this world just need to wait their turn.
Its a good job he didn't say anything as some people would have decided to swap the ticket, guess something told him to take his time at the counter, but wouldn't he have had the winning ticket anyway as he did buy several and am assuming 7 lucky dips as there were 7 of them playing, or did the person who decided to jump ahead of him buy 7 lucky dips as well, anyway really pleased for the lucky 7 just reminds me of the UK magnificent 7 who won 2 years ago splitting a jackpot of £91m.
Congrats to them. May wisdom, peace and great adventures come their way!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Just curious, what is a "dip"?
I feel inspired to write a book about this whole thing.
I'm going to call it "The Silence of the Butterflies".
On a side note, if you add up all the seven winners' ages you get 348.
Walk now, don't run, there's plenty of time for the evening draw.
Yeah, like you weren't gonna, right?
i play win 4, how can i tell the amount i win for.
...well they must have bought 14 QPs, since they said they all put in $2 each. I just wonder which QP was the winner.
...I believe in Karma.
...but I also want to think that had they filtered through the line without the cut, that the QP "could" have been generated at any other terminal in the country..but then would that particular number sequence had even been generated had the person not purchased the ticket before the Lucky 7s.
...I ramble thoughts, its only my second post, but expect it in the future.
Congrats to all the winners......
Anyway, hand of fate or whatever, congratulations to the winners. Also, I'm glad the article mentioned whether the winning ticket was a Quick Pick because it gives Quick Pick players, hope: not that there's anything wrong with playing one's set of numbers. It is a matter of preference, and any strategies that can land you a winning -- is all you need to get by -- and hopefully retire.
Now, some of the winners aren't ready to retire, and I was just purusing at some of the ages: some of the winners are in their 60s. However, since the workers have vested pensions and social security investments, it might not be feasible to retire early, if they're going to retire: that's up to them.
Finally, whatever outcome happens, I wish them and their families good health and a long life.
Texas Midday 384
I playd 834 ext and forgot to box...
This group photo is missing Uncle Sam! He got the biggest cut of all when you think about it.....
To each their own on what they do with their winnings, just hope they each take my ten bucks I put in to a charity....then maybe I can say it went to a worthy cause....
well, my group of ten members played 70 dollars worth on this draw. we won NOTHING...we all had big dreams of what to do with it...QUIT WORKING for good... Maybe the Powerball drawing this Saturday, will be our lucky day.
This GROUP win actually gives more hope to single players!?
Seemed to be a pretty small group dollar wise, just $2 each per draw? And the guy said he bought a "ticket" and hid it, as in singlular: 1 ticket? The enlarged ticket they were each holding at the press conference showed just 7 picks/lines on it, so I assume they put that extra $7 from the $2/ea on megaplier? Kind of weird that they only jump in when the jackpot gets large, but instead of getting more lines, like 14, they go for a megaplier instead. Isn't that weird? Oh well, it worked for them no matter what.
Anyway, hope for single players. I easily play more than 14 picks/lines each draw when MM gets huge. So just as much chance as the Albany 7.
While I am NO fan of Uncle Scam how do you figure he got the largest cut at only 25%?? Granted it's still highway robbery that is funding two, errr....three illegal wars.....while the country slips into the "greatest depression"..
SC evening - 483
BuyLow, apparently you didn't know that the INITIAL fed deduction is 25%, later up to the remaining possible 10% is required to be paid to them too.
Lottery Post members, don't become confused in your budget planning by accidentally thinking that it's only ever 25% to the fed -- cumulative deduction will usually end up being closer to the top tax bracket amount of 35%; remainder due come the beginning of the following year.
Congratulations to the "Albany 7" !!!. A "Lucky Dip" in the United Kingdom is the same as a "Quick Pick".
A lucky dip in Tennessee is when ya dip snuff in church and the preacher don't see ya.
What do you have for PA!! LOL!!
I'll bet ya never knew you had it in you
to take on the 3 digit!
(you have to be careful with that skill rdgrnr, you'll have
people asking you to do their state each day
)
I thought it was when you went down to the lake naked early one morning and realized Dolly Parton had the same idea.
congratulations on your win
Hey dr, I didn't know being a prognosticator was so easy!
They're gonna call me The Oracle of The Appalachians!
That'd be a lucky dip fer sure.
But the water's real cold in Pigeon Forge right now.
I wouldn't want Dolly to get the wrong first impression.
all of this for only $19.5mil EACH??? that's like winning a $40mil lotto by yourself - and some of us don't even start to play until it gets interesting [over $80mil.] .... as for the guy, he was being a cheapskate as they only asked for $2 and they made sure to state they asked him SEVERAL TIMES if he was sure .. and he pretty much told them to 'get lost' .. so, he knows he has no claim and they will NOT be breaking him anything [which is only fair] - someone [locally] stated that he was his usual rude/mean self and has been back to work but won't talk about the situation ... that's interesting .. anyway, yoland vega and the rest of the ny lottery headquarters WILL TELL YOU ANYTHING to MAKE you come and claim your prize IN PERSON -.... but as many in new jersey have done [same public records disclosures as new york] GET YOUR LAWYER TO CLAIM FOR YOU AND REFUSE TO SHOW FACE - [nj had the lucky 12 and a spokesperson to speak for them - we still don't know their names] you do not have to show your face and while your name is public records, they could have claimed as the LUCKY 7 and only when a person writes to request the info [they have to give a reason as to why they want it and it will have to go through a court system and judge to release that info [btw: that's what they mean by public record, they can't refuse to give it IF IT'S BEING REQUESTED - not to simply give it right away] then they would get it ].. but people kill me .. unless you want this public attention and stalkering to follow, STOP SHOWING UP FOR THE MEDIA BLITZ - big check and all .. ... i'm most happy for gabrielle to be only 29 and basically having the choice to RETIRE EARLY!! great game .. would love for it to reach $400mil and would love for only ONE [1] person to win .. that's why we all play, right? to be the sole winners and not to share it with a bunch of other people so we can only end up netting a measly $19mil - at least, that's my feeling on playing the lotto - no sharing of the wealth nonsense .. the rich owe no one a gotdayum thang [speaking as a future millionaire .. ]
all of this for only $19.5mil EACH???
While winning that much money then "only" getting $19.5 million... that's still way more than enough for anybody and I don't see how anyone could be dissatisfied with winning that. I have a range of "dreams" for what to with winnings, each depending on how much I won, from as little as $5 million after taxes to upwards of $100 million.
As for the story, sure did bring a smile. Seems there was a lot of things happening that day that allowed them to win. Hope I can get some of that soon.
I am so happy for them. They all should remind us what 7 positive people could do when they decide to act.
I play alone because I havent been invited to a pool but when I do get invited I will jump at it
A lucky dip in the UK is the same thing as a quick pick in the USA
I am confused.If they added the extra 7 on megaplier, the ticket was supposed to be 7 lines ticket with a $14 spent on it not $7. You 7*2=14. The same thing when you add megaplier to a $5 ticket, it is a $10 ticket with 5 lines on it not 10 lines.
I heard one TV news story say they bought 14 quick picks, that was not clear before.(megaplier or not)
The picture of their enlarged ticket they were holding showed 7 lines, so I assume he must have bought two $7 tickets totalling 14 lines/dollars. I guess that was their method: but a ticket for each dollar pooled together?
The rude customer who cut in front of him must have bought a regular $5 ticket instead of a $10/line ticket. I'm assuming that because the winning number was the 2nd pick/line on their ticket, just beyond the reach of the other customer? But even if they had gotten their ticket first, his 14 picks would have also included the winning number.
Or would it? Would the winning number come out in that order no matter what, or would the QP RNG spit out something different in that case?
The part I don't get is the guy said the guy behind him reached around and grabbed the next ticket, so he took the next one.
Does that mean there was a pile of $7 Quick Picks already printed and sitting there?
Doesn't sound right.
yep
I assume that means that the guy behind him bought the next ticket that would have come out of the machine. But would not matter, as their 14 picks would have covered the winning number coming out in the sequence even if he bought first. That is if you believe that the numbers come out of the machine in a set order based on the RNG.
@ttech10
all of this <-- was pertaining to the news conference, the endless interviews, the hoopla [at least STILL GOING ON HERE IN NEW YORK] - the other $300mil were featured ONCE and that was that ..
don't get me wrong ttech10 ... $19 milly would have me quit and live out all my dreams too .. I just can't believe such a HUGE pot netted out so little money .. UNCLE SAM ISN'T COMPLAINING!
I thought they meant that he simply TOOK HIS SPOT to be next -
CONGRATULATIONS TO THE NYC WINNERS!
SEE, when you are patient, you day comes... the rude person missed out on 19 mil because he didn't wait his turn!
Some one said to work and not play lotto, you can still work and playresponsibly!!!!!
I always believed that the RNG picked random numbers at the time of printing a ticket, not that sets were pre-selected.
I think you're right nickey. I just re-read the version of the story in this thread and it says the guy reached over his shoulder and "bought" the next ticket which means he probably had one printed. If I'm not mistaken, another version of the story quoted him as saying the guy reached around him and "grabbed" the next ticket. That's what threw me off.
Good karma for Mr. Barth whom didn't overreact at the patron that cut in line. Mike was patient, let it slide and just calmly purchased the next set; and I think that played a part in him getting rewarded. I remember there was a Kentucky couple in a similar situation that won a few years back during Christmas. The husband wanted to purchase 3 separate single Mega QPs as "stocking stuffers" for 3 different friends. Instead, the clerk accidently gave him a $3 QP all on one ticket, but the man still calmly purchased it and proceeded to purchase the 3 seperate tickets for his friends after the mistake. The husband even bought extra tickets that he said were his regular numbers he normally played. Anyway, either by dumb luck or karmic fate, that "mistaken" $3 QP ticket happened to be the sole winner of the jackpot cash value at $63 million. So whatever life throws your way, whether it be an impatient line-cutter or the honest mistake of the clerk, just take it with a smile, don't complain and be thankful that you live in America where dreams come true!
I would provide the Kentucky Christmas link for this article, which can be found on LP, but I'm still relatively new so not sure if I'm allowed yet...
The winning ticket was a regular $7 ticket not a megaplier.I found out today, that we can buy a regular mega millions, powerball, lotto with up to 10 lines on it.I asked the store clerk for $7 mega millions and he was going to give me a $5 quick pick and a $2 quick pick.I asked him if he could print it out in one ticket and he did.So i have a $7 quick pick regular mega millions ticket for tonight drawing.Athough i usually spend $1 quick pick for such a low jackpot amount.I just needed to know about the $7 ticket thing.
BY THE WAY WHEN YOU ARE MEANT TO WIN, YOU WILL WIN WHETHER YOU PLAY 1 LINE OR 100 LINES.So it does not matter how you buy your tickets.As you can see in the photos and videos, the winning combination was on the second line of the ticket not the 7 line.$2 quick pick would have done it.THEY PLAYED AT THE RIGHT PLACE AT THE RIGHT TIME.
He told you he could give you a 7 line ticket, you didn't have to buy one.
You've been preaching about buying only one ticket and now this.
You so crazy!
DUDE, YOU ARE REALLY FUNNY
YOU FINALLY HAD A GOOD JOKE.THANKS MAN. 
On a serious note. I have realized that i am more successful playing the lottery when i set up an spending limit and stick to it.You know more like a stock market stop loss.I feel that we lottery players focus too mach on winning instead of minimizing our lottery spending.Maybe we will win more over the long run if we set up a budget, amount keep at it.
Got it! Thank you
What does rng mean.I. bet the guy that cut the line feels like crap.
I'm confused by the story too, although I have seen something that could possibly explain it, but even then, I still have questions about what actually happened.
In a convenience store located near me, they pre-print $1.00 QP tickets and hang them on a "tree stand". It's a small metal pole about one foot high standing on the counter next to the cash register. It has clips on it, and they attach the pre-printed QP tickets to the pole. A small sign says "Lotto QP's - $1.00 each." I think the stand is really for displaying small bags of snack food sold in small plastic bags like you might see for sale in a vending machine. (Potato chips or Frito's)
A customer can just pick a ticket off the stand, and hand a dollar to the clerk. It saves a little time, not much time, but I guess it's an attempt to speed up the line of customers waiting. (Assuming there are multiple people waiting in line to check out.)
My thinking is that's what might have been what was going on in Albany. But then, why would the guy who won, want a one dollar QP when the seven people who were in the pool play two dollars each? Would the store hang QP ticket's that cost ten dollars on the stand? They definitely can do that. If no one buys the ticket, they can cancel it. Pre-printing a ten dollar QP would save a little more time than pre-printing a one dollar version, I guess.....
So my intrepretation of what may have happened is that the store had a stand of tickets on the counter, and when the guy moved to get his candy bar, the guy behind him took a ticket off the stand that the guy who won had his eye on, but had not yet taken off the tree stand. Therefore he had to take another pre-printed ticket, and won 319 million dollars. That's the only thing I can come up with that makes a little sense. But I aint drivin all the way up to Albany to ask what the hell happened!!!
oh ok maybe they had a stack of pre printed quick picks, maybe they take em of the top of the pile, and this group asked for 7 so got 7 off the pile?maybe 1 stacks, a stack of $1 qucks and a stack of mega pliers.i can see that happening of theres a big jackpot and they want to sell em quickly.
thing that gets me is dropping out on a big pot, and not dropping out when say its back to $20 mill
Before MegaMillions and PowerBall came to Ohio I used to travel to Indiana and Michigan to get tickets when their jackpots were large and stores along the boarder sold tickets that way only because they had lines of customers waiting to buy them. But since then, at least in Ohio, I haven't seen such lines so stores only punch up a ticket when a customer comes in and ask for one. They must still be getting those kinds of lines in New York.
I live in a lesser populated section of the state of New York, and I didnt see any lines for the 319 million MM drawing. But since I dont live in the NYC metropolitan area, I cant say whether or not there were lines of people waiting to buy tickets down there. There very well could have been, and typically a TV news report about it is aired on the local 6 PM news in NYC. Some TV station in NYC invariably sends a reporter and a camera crew out to video tape the people in line, and asks those buying tickets what they'd do if they won. I didnt see any TV news reports about "lotto fever" prior to the drawing, but that doesnt mean there werent any.
I was surprised the convenience store where I live sells pre-printed tickets. I've never seen long lines in there, so I'm not sure what their motivation is. Maybe pre-printing helps to sell more tickets. People see the tickets and buy one, as opposed to having to remember to ask for a ticket. I dunno...that's just a guess.
In Albany, that store is downtown, near the state capitol building. From the pictures I've seen on TV and online, it looks as if it's well known, and has heavy foot traffic during the morning and evening rush hours. Lunch time is probably very busy in that store as well. I dont know the particular store, but I do know the streets in that area fairly well. It generally does get very busy during those times of day. So my guess is it probably was busy in the store when the winning ticket was sold. If that's the case, I can see why they'd pre-print QP tickets. I'm just curious as to why they'd pre-print tickets costing ten bucks. I guess they can sell 'em or they wouldnt do it.
RNG means Random Number Generator.
That's the thing that prints out the Quick Picks.
Quick Picks are the tickets that win most of the prizes including the jackpots.
Incoming!
you are right B$rizzle,same thing happen to me when i was living in NYC,someone cut me off,i wanted to said something but didn't,bought the next ticket and won.Someone told me it's because God doesn't like ugly.
Are you saying God doesn't like tiggs?
Why would somebody drop out of the pool when the jackpot is so large?
It could be as simple as they didnt have two dollars. I've been in that situation. I was in an office pool a long time ago, and there were times when I just didnt have any money when the guy who ran the pool asked me for my share.
Lately in The States, there's a lot of folks in that situation. Money is tight everywhere.
Hopefully the 7 who won will give the guy who didnt play some money. If I won 19 million, I wouldnt give him a full share, but I think I could find some money for the poor guy.
Hopefully the 7 who won will give the guy who didnt play some money. If I won 19 million, I wouldnt give him a full share, but I think I could find some money for the poor guy.
He was a co-worker who had a job like they did and made the decision not to put any of his money in their pool and for that you think they should give him some of their money? He still has a job and they probably aren't his co-workers any longer.
After letting this stew on the back burner for a while the thought occurred to me that maybe this 8th guy was somebody that nobody really liked. Maybe he was one of those people that everybody knew wouldn't ever help anybody else out and that's why nobody would go out of their way to benefit him. Maybe he was a cheapskate who was so tight he grated on people's nerves.
Or maybe not. Maybe they were co-workers but they just weren't friends.
Because I couldn't see friends cutting a real friend loose over $2 and a bad decision when they have more money than they'll ever need. Not real friends.