November 30, 2012 -- The night before the record breaking Powerball® jackpot drawing was held on November 28, Maria Forgione of Northford had a dream—in it, her departed father held up a sign with five numbers, which she recalled vividly upon waking.  Wednesday at 9:32pm, Maria’s husband, Al, purchased a single Powerball with Power Play ticket with a $2 prize he won on an instant game and four quarters, playing the numbers she gave him.  At 10:59pm, Maria watched the Powerball drawing as it was broadcast live on TV.  Five of the winning numbers drawn were on the Forgione’s Powerball ticket, making them one of CT’s newest lottery millionaires.

The winning Powerball numbers on November 28, 2012 were 5 – 16 – 22 – 23 – 29.  The Forgiones matched the first five numbers, but missed the Powerball number, 6.  Normally a $1,000,000 prize, Al, who had added the Power Play feature to his ticket for an extra $1, automatically doubled their prize for a cool $2,000,000.

“I saw the numbers and immediately knew they were a match,” Maria told Lottery officials.  “I woke up Al and told him we had five numbers, but he didn’t believe me.  So, we went to the lottery’s website (ctlottery.org) to check.  I thought we won $150.  When we realized we actually won $2,000,000, we couldn’t believe it.”

In total, 148,555 winning Powerball tickets were sold statewide for November 28, with prizes ranging from $4 to $2,000,000.  In addition to the Forgione’s “Match 5” plus Power Play $2,000,000 prize win, two other incredibly lucky Powerball ticket holders also had a five number match, each worth $1,000,000.

The Forgiones arrived at CT Lottery headquarters late Thursday afternoon where Lottery officials presented them with their Powerball prize winning check for $1,366,001 (value after taxes).  In that touching moment, Maria was moved to tears.  “This is a tremendous help,” Maria said.  “We’ll be able to pay off some bills, help our family, do something a little fun…and put a lot away for a rainy day.”

For selling the Forgiones their $2,000,000 prize winning Powerball ticket, Northford Patco Handy Stop, located at 1371 Middletown Avenue in Northford, will receive a $2,000 bonus check from the CT Lottery.

Thanks to strong ticket sales that topped out at more than $24 million, profits raised from the jackpot run made our state a $9.6 million winner.  That is because 100% of profits from the sale of Lottery tickets are delivered to the General Fund where they are in turn distributed to the various programs and services the fund supports.  Included in that allocation are services that touch all of Connecticut’s citizens – healthcare, education, public safety, and more.