I’ve been buying New York State Lottery Scratch-offs every-now-and-then for over twenty-five years. For years I’d only buy the games that cost $10 tops, for fear of losing too much. Well, you get what you pay for…using that strategy, the most I won on a single ticket was $75. Don’t get me wrong, that’s a nice little windfall, but when I moved to Forest Hills last May, I found a stationary store around the corner from my apartment that sells scratch-offs and decided to up the ante. Keep in mind that the $20 and $30 tickets have higher payouts. I buy tickets a few times a month — it’s something to do on my subway ride into Manhattan, or while I grab lunch at my local Starbucks.
I splurged for a $30 ticket last summer, number 11 from the ticket display, which I scratched off on the subway on my way to the movies in Manhattan and won $200! At first, I couldn’t believe my luck — I did a double-take — when I brought it back to the stationary store on my way home, the clerk handed me $200 cash tax free. In New York State, lottery winnings up to $600 are tax-free — anything above that amount is taxable.
A few weeks ago, I bought a $10 ticket on my way to Starbucks and won $50! I redeemed it for a $30 ticket, number 11, and opted for the remaining $20 in cash, that way, if I lost, I could still say I was $20 ahead of the game. Guess what! I won $500! Scratching off the winning ticket at Dunkin’ over breakfast, I thought I had won $375 — my coffee was still kicking in — turns out I won $500. Get a load of this — the clerk didn’t have the cash on hand.
