What to Know
- A review by The Journal News of lottery winnings of more than $5,000 between 2012 and 2017 showed that some retailers produce more winners
- Nearly 25,000 New York Lottery tickets with at least a $5,000 jackpot were sold in the past five years
- New York runs the largest lottery in the nation, reaching nearly $9.9 billion in revenue last year
If you're looking to win big on a lotto ticket, it always helps to take some of the guesswork out of the equation.
A recent review by The Journal News of the last six years of lottery winnings of more than $5,000 showed that some retail locations produce more winners than others. According to The Journal News’ study, between 2012 and 2017 nearly 25,000 New York Lottery tickets with at least a $5,000 jackpot were sold.
A newsstand in midtown proved to be the location with the most winners. Not only does Carlton Cards in Penn Station have the most winners, but it is the biggest seller of lottery tickets in New York, selling an average $246,000 a week. Carlton Cards sold 49 tickets worth at least $5,000, including a $59 million Mega Millions jackpot in 2015.
However, the most popular spots to purchase a lottery ticket aren't necessarily the places that produce the most winners.
For example, a Valero gas station in Middleton, in Orange County, only sold four winning tickets worth at least $5,000 between 2012 and 2017, but it did have one of the largest jackpot in the state’s history — the $321 Mega Millions jackpot in 2014, the Journal News reports.
Other New York counties scored big, according to the review. Of the top 10 biggest winners in New York, three were in Richmond County on Staten Island: a $165 Mega Millions winner in 2016, a $137 million Powerball winner in 2015 and an $86 million Mega Millions in 2012.
Local
Chain supermarkets also ended up being some of the locations with the most winners.
Wegmans, the Rochester-based supermarket company, sold tickets to 281 big winners at its 46 locations across the state from 2012 to 2017.
Tops Markets proved to sell even more winning tickets — 351 worth at least $5,000 since 2012.
However, the chain that outdid them all was 7-Eleven. One thousand winners bought their tickets at one of the chain’s convenience stores, according to the state Lottery Division, The Journal News reports.
KG Cards in Glen Head, Nassau County, on Long Island had the most $5,000-plus winners when it came to scratch-offs with 16 winners, including a $5 million winner on a “Wild Bonanza” multiplier ticket and a winning jackpot on a $3 million “Frenzy” ticket. But, the biggest winners came from North County when two “Win $1 Million a Year for Life” scratch-off tickets were sold in 2013 and 2014. Each is valued at $20 million.
Broome County had 11 winners of a $1 million-plus since 2012, with the largest being a $10 million scratch-off game in 2015 at Vestal gas station.
Dutchess County also had a $10 million scratch-off winner at a Stewart’s Shop in Poughkeepsie in 2017 — one of nine $1 million-plus prizes in the county since 2012.
In Monroe County, the in-state Lotto produced the biggest jackpot winners. Last October, a $9.8 million winner was crowned in Webster, while in 2013 a $3.2 million winner came from the same town as well, The Journal News’ reports.
Though certain locations have the most winners, it is worth noting that the odds of winning are the same wherever you play — 1 in 302,575,350 chances of winning the Mega Millions jackpot.
New York runs the largest lottery in the nation, reaching nearly $9.9 billion in revenue last year.
