Hamden Man’s Traffic Delay Results In $252K Lottery Win

HAMDEN, CT — (From the Connecticut Lottery): Hamden’s Ray Giordano got stuck in traffic earlier this month, which was a real bummer.

It was his birthday, after all, and he was on his way to Mystic to get his boat ready for the water. When he finally got off the highway, Giordano made his usual stop at Henny Penny Mystic 25 for a couple waters, a package of Pop-Tarts, and a Fast Play “Super 7s” Progressive ticket.

“I walked back to my car and started checking my ticket,” Giordano told Lottery officials. “When I got to the third line and saw the Progressive Jackpot symbol and three (matching) numbers, I thought, ‘This can’t be!’ I'd won the jackpot!" After he scanned his ticket with the Lottery's mobile app, Ray went back inside the store where two very excited Henny Penny employees happily confirmed his $252,454 progressive jackpot win.

“For once, hitting traffic did something good for me,” Giordano said with a laugh. “Everything I’ve been wanting to do on the house, I’m going to do. I’ll put the rest in the bank until I figure out how to invest it.”