There is little doubt that there are thousands of folks in New York and across the country who have been buying Mega Millions lottery tickets for years in hopes of winning a life-changing prize, only to see those aspirations fall short each and every time.
Which is why those thousands of lottery players will likely sneer at the story of Marco Accardo.
Perhaps you’ll know him better as the man who recently claimed two $1 million second-prize tickets playing Mega Millions.
Odds-defying NY Lottery win for West Hempstead man
According to the New York Lottery, the West Hempstead native Accardo purchased Mega Millions tickets for the Nov. 11, 2022, drawing. Two tickets shared the same five white numbers.
On that date, Mega Millions drew 05-09-15-16-17 as the five white balls, with a Mega Ball 25. By matching the first five, each Accardo ticket became $1 million checks.
For perspective, hitting the $1 million second prize carries odds of 1 in 12.6 million – or roughly the same odds as becoming the next US president.
Accardo opted for a single-lump sum payment, each ticket cashing for $651,000, which adds up to a grand total of about $1.3 million.
Where winning Mega Millions ticket was sold
According to the NY Lottery, Accardo purchased his tickets at Bolla 820 Hempstead C-Store.
Some might contend that you shouldn’t go to the place that just sold a big winning ticket. Others, however, might argue that this story is now the hotbed. (Spoiler: It doesn’t actually matter.)
It wouldn’t be the first time the same store sold multiple major-prize Mega Millions tickets.
After all, as pointed out by the Staten Island Advance, one store in Newburgh has had quite the hot streak this year.
Smokes 4 Less sold a $1 million Mega Millions ticket from the Nov. 17 draw. This came after a stretch in January, when the store sold two seven-figure prize-winning tickets as well as a pair of $1 million tickets over a three-day span in November.
