Curiosity leads New York Lottery player to $25,000 prize
Wednesday January 26th 2011A lottery player, who was “curious” about a newly-released scratchcard game, proved that it pays to try new things after winning $25,000. Art Smistek of Lancaster, Erie County, decided to try his luck and buy lotto tickets on January 11 at the Wilson Farms store on William Street in his home town. But at the last minute he opted to take a break from his usual lottery game and instead try the new $3,000,000 Richer instant win scratchcard, released only nine days earlier.
The switch resulted in Mr Smistek beating odds of one in 252,000 and netting the game’s $25,000 second prize.
Mr Smistek, a retired custodian for the Lancaster School District, told New York Lottery officials that he doesn’t intend to blow the cash in a mad spending frenzy. Instead he plans to add the money to his “rainy day fund”.
The $3,000,000 Richer game costs $10 to play and has a top prize of $150,000 a year for 20 years.