By Sharon Space-Bamberger
LOCH SHELDRAKE — Andrew Porter frequently buys Lottery tickets at the Loch Sheldrake Food Mart near his home. He has won small Lottery prizes before, but the winning Mega Money Multiplier Scratch-Off ticket he bought on June 10th makes Porter Sullivan County’s newest Lottery Millionaire – five million dollars richer.
The odds of winning first prize in the New York Lottery are 1 in 45,057,474.
On Wednesday, Porter received an oversize check for $5 million dollars from Gretchen Dizer of the New York State Lottery at the convenience store where he purchased the winning ticket.
The 51-year old Loch Sheldrake plumber said, “I always stop by, I’m pretty lucky. I had won $200 two days earlier on the same game. This time, I asked for number four but I hadn’t bought it yet, so at the last second I gave it back and said, ‘Give me number three.’”
Number three was the winner! By matching number 12 on the top and bottom of his ticket Porter became Sullivan County’s newest, and richest Lottery Millionaire.
“I scratched the first three zeros and I said to my friend ‘Bummy’ (Charles Morman) of Bum & Kel’s Bar, ‘Well, I won $5,000!’ I kept scratching and there were three more zeros. I couldn’t’ believe it!
Porter added, “I thought I was dreaming, but ‘Bummy’ verified it. He said, ‘You won five million dollars, you want to buy a bar?’”
Porter, who will receive a $3.3 million dollar lump sum after taxes, said, “I started jumping up and down when I realized how big a prize it was and I ran straight home.”
The next day, Porter claimed his prize at the Lottery’s Customer Service Center in Fishkill. He had won the last top prize available on the Mega Money Multiplier ticket; the game has since been retired.
The lucky winner revealed, “It still hasn’t sunk in yet.”
Porter plans to take his wife and their seven kids, ages 3-29, to Disneyland. New vehicles may also be in the family’s future, but Porter said he plans to invest some of his lottery winnings.