Bernie Szilagyi of Wanaque had some anxious moments when he almost missed out on purchasing his usual Jersey Cash 5 tickets on the evening of Mar. 9th due to a temporary problem with the cash register at his local retailer.
Luckily for Bernie, the clerk quickly fixed the issue and he was able to pick up five Quick Pick Jersey Cash 5 tickets. He tucked the tickets away in the back of his wallet for safe keeping and carried on with his weekend, forgetting to check the tickets after the drawing.
A few days later, Bernie stopped back into his local retailer’s store and the clerk asked him excitedly, “Did you hear the good news?” The clerk told Bernie someone who had bought a ticket as this store had won the Jersey Cash 5 jackpot from Friday’s drawing.
Officials say Bernie went home, looked up the numbers online, and dug up the tickets from the previous Friday that he had put into the back of his wallet. As he compared the numbers on his ticket to the numbers that had been drawn, Bernie noticed they matched - all five out of the five white balls drawn! He quickly did a double and triple-take to make sure he was reading it properly. He was amazed and thrilled that his lucky ticket was worth $702,686!! He was lucky twice: once when the clerk was able to fix the computer in time for him to buy his tickets, and again when the numbers on one of those Quick Picks was the winning combination.
Bernie and his wife will talk to their financial advisor before determining the best way to pay down debts and invest in their future.
Bernie purchased his lucky ticket at Wine 2 Spirits on 662 Ringwood Ave., Wanaque in Passaic County.