PA Lottery: $1 Million Tickets for Millionaire Raffle Sold in Cumberland, Allegheny Counties

First of Four $1 Million Winners Claims Prize

MIDDLETOWN, Pa., Jan. 5, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Pennsylvania Lottery retailers in Cumberland and Allegheny counties sold the four $1 million, top-prize winning tickets from the Jan. 1 Millionaire Raffle drawing.

One of the $1 million winners, Clido Gardjulis, of Mechanicsburg, Cumberland County, presented his ticket for validation at Lottery headquarters in Middletown, Dauphin County, on Jan. 3.  Lottery officials confirmed the ticket was a top-prize winning ticket. Gardjulis purchased the ticket at Giant Food Store, 255 Cumberland Parkway, Mechanicsburg.

The three other $1 million tickets were sold in Allegheny County at Penn Hills News, 24 Federal Drive, Pittsburgh; T-Bones Marketplace, 100 VIP Drive, Wexford; and Marshall's, 1520 Spring Garden Ave., Pittsburgh. Each store will receive a $5,000 selling bonus from the Pennsylvania Lottery.

Each $1 million prize must be claimed by presenting a winning ticket at Pennsylvania Lottery headquarters in Middletown, Dauphin County, or at any of the Lottery's seven area offices. Claims may be filed Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Lottery headquarters and from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at area offices.

Claims for the $100,000 prizes may be filed at any of the Lottery's seven area offices or any licensed Pennsylvania Lottery retailer. Holders of Millionaire Raffle tickets worth $1,000 and $100 can claim winnings at local Lottery retailers.

Players may check winning numbers at www.palottery.com and at retailers. Winning raffle ticket numbers are listed on the Lottery website by prize category. The website also features a search function that allows players to enter their eight-digit raffle ticket numbers to determine if they hold winning tickets. In addition, every Lottery retailer has a ticket checker that allows players to scan their own tickets to find out if they are winners.

To be considered a winning ticket, the eight-digit number on a Millionaire Raffle ticket must exactly match a winning number selected in the drawing, and all digits must appear in the same sequence as the winning number.

The four $1 million, top-prize raffle ticket numbers selected were 00000596, 00007008, 00124963 and 00411318. The four $100,000, second-prize raffle ticket numbers selected were 00083595, 00165503, 00207633 and 00292319.

A total of 6,000 prizes were selected from a pool of 500,000 tickets sold between Nov. 19 and Dec. 29, when the game sold out.

About the Pennsylvania Lottery: The Pennsylvania Lottery remains the only state lottery that designates all its proceeds to fund programs that benefit older residents. Since its inception 38 years ago, the Pennsylvania Lottery has contributed more than $20.1 billion to programs that include property tax and rent rebates; free transit and reduced-fare shared rides; the low-cost prescription drug programs PACE and PACENET; long-term living services; and the 52 Area Agencies on Aging, including more than 600 full- and part-time senior centers throughout the state. The Pennsylvania Lottery reminds its players to play responsibly. Players must be 18 or older.

For more information on the Pennsylvania Lottery, visit www.palottery.com.

Media contact: Kirstin Alvanitakis, 717-702-8008

Editor's Note: Gardjulis declined to take part in a check presentation or public event recognizing his win.

SOURCE Pennsylvania Lottery