At Smokes 4 Less in Newburgh, the sound of winning lottery tickets is welcome, and frequent
NEWBURGH, N.Y. -- We're still waiting to learn who won Friday's $1.35 billion Mega Millions jackpot, but a second prize ticket worth a cool $1 million was sold in Orange County.
CBS2's Tony Aiello visited the retailer in Newburgh, where Lady Luck has been a frequent visitor lately.
In a quiet strip mall, the sound of winning lottery tickets is welcome and frequent.
"It's exciting, actually," a store clerk said.
Smokes 4 Less on Plank Road sold a $50,000 winner for Saturday's Powerball, and a $1 million winner for Friday's Mega Millions, the fifth $1 million or more prize sold there since it opened in August.
"Maybe because it's a new store and new machine spitting out hot numbers, you know?" said lottery player Luis Cintron.
"You've got to be in it to win it, and this is the store," said lottery player Peggy McGuire.
The store sold five big winning tickets during one week in November. Manager Nicole Maltz says recent $1 billion jackpots had them lining up outside the door.
"I have people coming from all over the state, different states," said Maltz.
CBS2's Tony Aiello asked the operations director Joe LaCorte, what's the store's secret?
"It's just luck of the draw. It happens to be just luck," LaCorte said.
The luck of the draw may be a factor, but sheer volume might play a role as well, as the Newburgh store is associated with a lottery app for your smartphone called "Jackpocket."
A lottery spokesperson said, "The Newburgh location provides tickets to people using the [Jackpocket] App. That may explain the number of wins sold there."
To be sure, most lottery tickets sold there - or anywhere - don't win.
"I played Friday. But I checked my tickets and I didn't win nothing," said Cintron .
But players look for every advantage, real or imagined.
"This is a lucky store, I'm gonna play here from now on," one person said.
In addition to Newburgh, Mega Millions second prize tickets were sold in Plainview, Staten Island and Long Island City.