Ten may just be his lucky number.
After a decade of purchasing Lottery tickets at the same Maspeth minimart, Carmelo Amoroso won half a million dollars in Pick 10.
“I have been buying Lottery tickets for years but never won more than a few hundred dollars,” said Amoroso, 60, a post office maintenance manager from Middle Village.
A father of four and grandfather of one, Amoroso didn’t believe it when he learned he was a winner on January 16. “I got a printout of the drawing results from the store and checked my ticket at home,” he said. “Then I had to call my family to make sure it was real.”
Amoroso purchased his advance play Pick 10 Quick Pick ticket at the Maspeth Express Minimart on Grand Avenue in Maspeth – the same location where he’s purchased his advance play Pick 10 tickets for more than a decade.
He won the top prize of $500,000 for matching all of the Pick 10 numbers drawn on January 16 and claimed his prize on January 24 at the Lottery’s Garden City Customer Service Center.
“I’m going to save for the grandkids,” said the happy winner. He also plans to pay off his mortgage.
Pick 10 is a $1 daily draw game. The odds of winning the top prize are 1 in 8,911,711. The odds of winning any prize on a $1 bet are 1 in 22.
Other recent Lottery millionaires from Queens include:
• Omar Poorun, 44, of Richmond Hill. An engineer for Centaur Properties, Poorun won $3,000,000 on the $3,000,000 Richer instant ticket.
• Ding Guan Chen, 53, of Maspeth. A truck driver for a Chinese delivery company, Chen won $3,000,000 on the Platinum Payout instant ticket.
• Ho Yu Chang, 58, of Jackson Heights. A chef, Chang won the $1,000,000 top prize on the popular $1,000,000 Cashword instant ticket.
