High Rollers Smoke Vape & Convenience, at 33-22 21st Street in Astoria, sold the second-prize ticket (Photo: Christina Santucci)
Jan.24, 2021 By Christina Santucci
An Astoria convenience and smoke store that sold a $1 million lottery ticket has been seeing a boom in business this weekend from customers hoping the shop will also bring them luck.
“I never thought selling the winning ticket would bring so many people in,” said clerk Saadain Shabbir, 18, at High Rollers Smoke Vape & Convenience. “They usually say it’s the lucky place.”
The shop, located at 33-22 21st St., sold the ticket that scored second prize in Friday’s Mega Millions drawing.
The winning ticket was sold in Michigan and that prizewinner nabbed the $1.05 billion jackpot – or a $776.6 million lump sum – the second-largest prize in Mega Millions history, officials said in a statement.
Shabbir said the Astoria vape shop had been busy leading up to Friday’s drawing. “The jackpot was $1 billion, so who wouldn’t want that,” he said.
The second-prize ticket sold in Astoria was one of 10 runner-up tickets sold across the country. There was one other New York store that sold a second prize ticket– Bolla Market in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn.
Second-prize ticket holders can choose between $1 million in long-term payments or a $633,040 lump sum.
Saadain Shabbir works at High Rollers Smoke Vape & Convenience, where a Mega Millions ticket worth $1 million was sold (Photo: Christina Santucci)
So far, the Queens winner has not come forward to claim the prize, according to a spokesperson for the New York Lottery.
Shabbir said he hopes that the winner visits the shop. “If they do, I will congratulate them,” he said.
The store has printed and hung signs on the front door and the cash register about the $1 million ticket.
One customer using the ATM in the shop Sunday morning laughed when asked about the winner. “It’s great for whoever won it. I wish it was me,” she joked.
The New York Lottery spokesperson also confirmed that J&T Supermarket, at 117-31 Farmers Blvd. in St. Albans, sold a Take 5 ticket worth $38,486.
A sign on the front door of High Rollers Smoke Vape & Convenience notifies customers of the $1 million winning ticket (Photo: Christina Santucci)
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One Comment
I’m happy that the winner got lucky but the people who line up to play the numbers and gamble hundreds of dollars a week are class A idiots. If they put that money into a Vanguard fund, or one of the ARK funds if they feel more risky, the would be much further ahead in 5 years. Also, if they could learn basic charting (which anyone can do), they could turn a $500 investment into $1000 in no time. Of course, that would mean having the desire to learn something. Most people who play the numbers don’t want to do that.