Rachelle Bialek is a regular player of New Jersey Lottery draw games and scratch-off tickets.
Every Sunday, she buys her tickets for the week and then checks the newspaper each morning to see if the numbers drawn the night before match the numbers on her ticket for that drawing.
When she plays the Jersey Cash 5 game, she hand picks the same numbers that she has been playing for years. While checking the numbers the morning after the Sept. 26th drawing, she was shocked and excited to realize she had won the jackpot for that game.
Ecstatic, she immediately woke her son, who was startled and concerned by his mom’s urgency to wake him so early in the morning. He was happy to know that his mom’s excitement was the result of such good news. At about the same time, her daughter had called and Rachelle told her the wonderful news. This is great good fortune for the holiday season for three members of the Rachelle Bialek family.
Officials say Rachelle was one of two Jersey Cash 5 winners who split the $257,892 prize. Her winning ticket was worth $128,946.
Rachelle said she plans to take care of a few home repairs and, possibly use some of the winning to take a cruise with her son. The rest will be set aside and invested.
The retailer who sold the lucky ticket was Metro Wine & Liquors, 89 Route 17 South, East Rutherford in Bergen County.