ALBUQUERQUE – A Santa Fe man claimed a $143,000 jackpot from the New Mexico Lottery yesterday.
Anthony Valdez matched the winning numbers of 2, 11, 21, 27 and 36 in the Dec. 20 Roadrunner Cash™ drawing, beating odds of 1 in approximately 435,000.
Above: Anthony Valdez, winner of $143,000 Roadrunner Cash™ prize
Valdez, who checked his ticket’s numbers against drawing results posted at the lottery’s website, said he never expected to win.
“I was in shock,” he told lottery officials in Albuquerque. “I still am.”
Even though he discovered his good fortune the day after the drawing, Valdez waited more than a week to claim his prize so that his parents, his brother and his brother’s family could come with him.
“I wanted them to enjoy this experience with me,” he said.
Valdez, who said he plans to use his prize to buy a new house, bought his lucky quick-pick ticket at the Giant store located at 11 Rover Blvd. in White Rock. For selling the jackpot-winning ticket, the store is eligible for a lottery bonus of $1,000. Previously, the store has sold two other large prize-winning lottery tickets for $10,000 and $110,000.
Legislative Lottery Scholarships
Since its inception in 1996, the New Mexico Lottery has raised $629 million for education and more than 97,000 students have attended college on Legislative Lottery Scholarships. As of the spring 2014 semester, more than 5,800 students from Santa Fe County have received $35.2 million in Legislative Lottery Scholarships.
More information about Legislative Lottery Scholarships is available at www.nmlottery.com.