Stamford Resident Wins Lottery Scratch-Off Game

When a Stamford woman scratched off the prize area on her “Win Up to $7,500 a Month for Life 2nd Edition” instant game ticket last Saturday, it completely took her breath away—that is, until she started screaming.

“First I saw a ‘W’ and then the words ‘WIN FOR LIFE,’” Christine Collins told Connecticut Lottery officials. “I started screaming, ‘Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God,’ and then asked my mother to put on her glasses and check to see if I was seeing things right.” That’s because a WIN FOR LIFE game symbol on a CT Lottery “Win Up to $7,500 a Month for Life” scratch ticket could only mean one thing—Collins would now be $7,500 a month richer, every month, for the rest of her life.

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Earlier that day, Collins stopped for gas in Oxford while on her way to visit her parents for lunch. “The bright green [Win for Life] ticket jumped out at me and then I saw the top prize, which sounded really good. So, I bought three tickets—one for each of us, and one extra one,” Collins said. “I’m not sure why I bought the extra ticket, but something was telling me to buy one more, so I did. That was the winning ticket!”

“Win Up to $7,500 a Month for Life” top prizes are paid as $7,500 a month for life with a guaranteed minimum total payout of $1,800,000 (at least 20 years), or as a one-time gross cash option payment of $1,500,000. Collins selected the “for life” option and will receive prize payments in the amount of $7,500 (before taxes) a month for the rest of her life.

“First, I’m going to pay off all my bills and do something nice for my family,” said Collins. “Then maybe I’ll buy a new car, a house and travel!”

Collins wasn’t the only one who shouted with delight over her unexpected windfall — so did Neil Patel, owner of the Star Food Mart, also known as Oxford Sunoco at 355-357 Oxford Rd. in Oxford, where Collins purchased her winning ticket.

According to Patel, “We’ve sold a lot of winning tickets over the years, but this is by far the biggest! We’re very excited and very happy for the winner.” Patel also will celebrate his store’s good fortune with an $18,000 bonus check from the CT Lottery for selling the top prize winning ticket.

Photo courtesy of CT Lottery.