A New Jersey couple out for dinner last week stopped for lottery tickets in Nutley and ended up winning $1.5 million with a $3 scratch-off.
The two couldn’t agree on where to buy their tickets, but ended up purchasing the ticket at Lucky 7 Deli on Centre Street, lottery officials said.
“I’m in shock,” said the player, who chose to remain anonymous. “I scratched the ticket. I saw the prize. I thought it was going to say ‘free ticket.’ It just didn’t click with me.”
The lottery player bought a $10 ticket and two $3 Win For Life! tickets, one of which was the big winner.
The couple chose the annuity and will receive their payment of $5,000 a month over the next 25 years.
“It was just so random,” the winner said. “This really changes our lives. We’re always stressed about bills. This makes life a lot easier.”
Lottery officials printed 12,734,800 tickets for the game, which launched Oct. 10.
A previous top-prize Win For Life! ticket was bought at Valley Spa on East Main Street in Little Falls, Passaic County.
One jackpot-winning ticket has yet to be claimed.
Stories by Jeff Goldman
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Jeff Goldman may be reached at jeff_goldman@njadvancemedia.com.