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New York Man Wins $5 Million Dollars On His Birthday After Purchasing A Scratch Off

Patrick Clarke

Photo Credit: TODD MAISEL/NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

A Queens man got the birthday wish of a lifetime in the form of a $5 million lottery jackpot.

Patrick Clarke, 28, bought the winning $10 Set for Life scratch-off ducat on Dec. 20 at the Friendly Deli & Grocery on Saratoga Ave. in Brooklyn.

“It feels good,” said Clarke, who purchased two tickets that day. “It means I won’t have to worry so much. There will always be something to worry about, but for once, it won’t be about money.”

The Delta Airlines ramp agent scratched off the ticket inside his girlfriend’s house.

“I started laughing and dancing all around the house!” he recalled, yelling whoo! whoo! whoo!

The first person he called was his mother who gave him $50 in cash as a birthday gift which he used to pay for the ticket.

“At first she didn’t believe me,” he remembered. “She said ‘stop playing with me.’ ”

His mother was initially confused, thinking that when he announced he “got life!” it meant in prison.

“My baby’s a millionaire now,” she said Wednesday. “Who would’ve known?”

The prize on the Set for Life scratch-off ticket guarantees a minimum payout of $5,000,000, lottery officials said.

Clarke chose the one-time lump sum payment totaling $2,453,693 after taxes.

He’s not sure what he’s going to do with the sudden windfall but plans to keep the airport gig.

He wants to buy a house and make sure his two young children are setup financially.

As for advice to other lottery players, he said, “It comes when you don’t expect it … I didn’t have high hopes behind it.”

And Clarke, who plays semi-regularly, has no plans to stop himself.

Source: NY Daily News

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