Bruce Magistro is addicted to scratch off ticket lottery.
AB Wire
A man from Long Island, New York, Bruce Magistro, has won a $1 million scratch off ticket lottery for the second time in 4 years.
“This is impossible,†Magistro was quoted as saying, by Gothamist, as he picked up his second million dollar check.
CBS2’s Tony Aiello reported it was a bit of deja vu for lottery spokeswoman Yolanda Vega. In 2012 she stood with Magistro when he scored $1-million on a scratch off ticket.
Then, just a few weeks ago the construction worker struck lottery gold a second time inside a West Babylon convenience store.
Maigstro told 1010 WINS that he spent $20 on 10 scratch-off tickets on the day of the drawing.
“It was actually the first ticket that he gave me that I won the Win For Life on,†Maigstro told 1010 WINS. The Lindenhurst resident says when he realized he’d won again, “even I couldn’t believe it.â€
The 48-year-old carpenter says during his 2012 check ceremony, Vega told him there was “always a chance†he could win again.
The widower says he plans to share his good fortune with his family and “enjoy life†with his new fiance. Magistro’s wife died two years ago Wednesday from cancer.
“A lot of medical bills. He couldn’t work for three years taking care of her. He had to do the right thing with the money the first time, now he gets to enjoy it the second time,†Magistro’s son Nick Mayers said.
A business school professor told CBS2’s Aiello that normally the chances of winning this big are just 1 in 2-billion, but not always.
Seven tickets from Saturday night’s drawing matched five numbers and claimed $1 million, including three in New York, two in Illinois and one apiece in California and Virginia.
Magistro admitted he spends as much as $200 a day and more than $1,000 weekly on scratchoffs. Despite the long odds of repeating again, he and his new fiance Deborah Ward plan to keep on scratching, reported CBS and AP.
The sole winner of the recent $429.6 million Powerball jackpot has yet to come forward to claim the prize, as the New Jersey store that sold the winning ticket celebrates.