Kids & Family
Mystic Couple Wins a Whole "Lotto" Dough in the Snow
George and Louise Schmidt claim Connecticut's first multi-million dollar jackpot of 2015, at $4.7 million.
Following a solid week of a whole lotta snow, George and Louise Schmidt of Mystic showed up at CT Lottery headquarters in Rocky Hill Monday afternoon knee-deep, in a whole “Lotto” dough—a $4.7 million jackpot, to be exact.
“When I looked in the newspaper Saturday morning to check the winning numbers and saw all my numbers matched, I let out a shout. I couldn’t believe it,” said Schmidt with a laugh. “Louise heard me, and asked what was wrong. I told her we won the jackpot—she didn’t believe it either. We went right out and put the ticket in a safe deposit box. We didn’t want anything to happen to it.”
Schmidt’s Lotto “Quick Pick” ticket contained the numbers 6-11-13-37-40-42, a perfect match to the winning numbers drawn Friday, January 30, 2015. In total, 5,313 winning Lotto tickets were sold for that date, with prizes ranging from $2 to $4.7 million.
After rolling 55 consecutive draws, Schmidt’s winning match for the $4.7 million jackpot marks the first time this year that a jackpot winning ticket was sold in Lotto, Connecticut’s longest running jackpot game.
The Lotto jackpot is payable as a 21-year annuity or a one-time cash lump-sum. The Schmidts opted to claim the jackpot’s cash lump-sum prize for $3,697,585 (before taxes), with plans already in place for their winnings. “We’re going to help the kids first. Then, we’re probably going to get a camper and see the country. There are so many places we haven’t seen yet.”
Universal Package Store, located at 680 W. Main Street in Norwich, will also have a reason to celebrate the Schmidts’ good fortune. For selling the jackpot winning ticket, Universal Package Store will receive a $10,000 bonus from the CT Lottery.
The overall chance of winning a prize in Lotto is 1 in 39.3. The chance of winning the jackpot is 1 in approximately 7.1 million.
The CT Lottery reminds the public that purchasers must be 18 or older, and to please play responsibly. For information about the CT Lottery stop by any CT Lottery retailer, visit ctlottery.org, join us on Facebook (facebook.com/CTLottery) and Twitter (twitter.com/ctlottery), or call (860) 713-2700.
