Many people – myself included – dream about winning the lottery. (I never even play and I still fantasize about what I would do with the winnings). For Constance Carpenito, those million-dollar dreams have become reality – twice.
Carpenito, a longtime lotto player, just won her second $1 million jackpot from a Massachusetts Lottery scratch ticket, the Boston Herald reports. She won her first $1 million jackpot with a scratch ticket purchased from the same Stop & Shop store in Stoneham, Massachusetts, in 1996.
“I’m lucky, what can I say?” Carpenito told the Herald with a laugh. “You’ve got to be lucky to win a million twice.”
Not only has Carpenito now won two $1 million prizes from the Massachusetts Lottery, she also won a $20,000 lotto prize in 1996, just six weeks before her first $1 million win.
Carpenito’s recent win was the result of a $20 instant game called $10,000,000 Diamond Millionaire.
“There’s no reason to believe that [Carpenito’s win] is anything other than a coincidence,” Massachusetts Lottery spokesman Christian Teja told CNN Money. He explained that the instant tickets are sent out at random to 7,500 retailers across Massachusetts.
The odds of Carpenito winning her most recent prize was 1 in 693,000. In 1996, she had an even longer shot at 1 in 3,780,000. Her odds of winning both prizes was 1 in 2.6 trillion. Wow.
Carpenito, who said she plans to spend her winnings making sure her family and grandchildren have an extra special Christmas this year, plays the lottery religiously.
“Ever since I hit the [first] million I’ve been playing at my lucky store once a week and it’s really paid off,” Carpenito told the Herald. “Every week I play my $20.”
If Carpenito has been spending $20 a week for the past 19 years playing the lottery, she’s sunk nearly $20,000 into the game. Yikes.
Carpenito opted for a one-time cash payment of $650,000 for her winnings. After taxes, she’ll get about $455,000.
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