January 18, 2008
The Lonely Night Shift Lotto Winner
A 22-year old Manhattan deli clerk that took the late shift on New Year's Eve lucked out when he bought himself a winning scratch-off ticket. While everyone else was welcoming 2008 with friends and family, the Yemen native's wife and baby were still living a world away, so Waleed Alsaidi bought himself a little present at his family's deli in Harlem to pass time on the lonely shift.
The NY Post reports on the feel-good story, which happily ended with Alsaidi getting the largest payout in New York scratch-off history! Happy New Year, indeed. He picked up his big check at Castle Clinton in Battery Park yesterday, and told those in attendance that he hadn't let his wife know yet, and wanted to surprise her with the news when he visited.
The $20 ticket earns him $10,000 per week for the rest of his life, which comes to about $6,450 after taxes. He says "I'm going to start living good," and after the visit to his wife and baby, he will try to bring them and other relatives to the U.S.
The Post points out that "if he lives to be more than 100, his winnings will be nearly $40 million, before taxes."
Photo of man scratching off ticket via Sky Shaper's Flickr.
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whoa. This is actually the best lottery to win. People won't try to kill you cause your lottery is dependent on your length of life and the lottery portions are small and make you think about how to spend it. It's like the lotto is it's own bank that can't get stolen too. You'd be shitting bricks if they gave you a lump sum of 40 million dollars. You know how many banks and lawyers would try to steal that money?
What a nice story. A good piece of advice for lottery winners is to set up a blind trust before collecting the money; the trust can claim the prize, and your identity is kept anonymous to the public.
such a sweet story!
@dbc - one of the conditions of playing/winning the lottery is revealing your identity and having a press conference.
This is an awesome story. I hope that he gets a financial adviser.