Schenectady, NY – Fifty-three-year-old Paula Layaw of Ilion, Herkimer County, is “hopelessly optimistic.” The former administration manager at the now defunct H.M. Quackenbush company credits her can-do spirit with helping her land her new job as an office manager at the Iron Workers Local 440 in Utica, and for a string of recent Lottery wins - including a $1,000,000 Cash City instant game win - that have made her and her husband rich beyond their wildest dreams.
“I won $1,000 on an instant game (Million Dollar Mania) back in July and $500,000 on the Pick 10 game in August,” Layaw explained. “My husband and I were still feeling giddy over those wins when I scratched off the $1,000,000 prize on this other instant game (Cash City). There’s no way to describe what we’re feeling now!”
Layaw and her husband Joel, 51, who works as a machinist at Remington Arms in Ilion, will use their combined Lottery fortune to build their dream house on property they already own in Herkimer.
“That’s the long term plan,” according to Layaw. “As for right now, let’s just say it’s going to be a very nice Christmas for our families.”
Layaw purchased her winning Cash City ticket on November 8, 2008 at the Hannaford store on East Albany St. in Herkimer during a routine stop for groceries. She claimed her $1,000,000 prize on November 12, 2008 at the Lottery’s Customer Service Center in Syracuse. Layaw will receive her $1,000,000 prize in 20 annual payments of $50,000 each, less required tax withholdings. Her annual net check will total $34,075.
“I would say my husband and I are fairly lucky people,” Layaw said. “He wins the cars and I win the money.” Joel Layaw won a GMC Sierra truck in a raffle sponsored by the local fire department back in 2002. He plans to trade in that truck for a newer GMC model.
The Layaws insist all their good fortune won’t change them. “We’re both going to keep working,” she said. “My husband will continue to hunt in his spare time and I will continue to play Lottery games in mine. That’s just who we are.”
The Lottery’s Pick 10 game is a nightly drawing featuring a top prize of $500,000. Players select 10 numbers from a field of 80. Players may also ask for a randomly generated set of Quick Pick numbers. If a player matches the 10 numbers selected at random, they win the $500,000 top prize. There are a total of six prize levels available in the Pick 10 game. The odds of winning the $500,000 top prize are 1 in 8.9 million. The odds of winning any prize are 1 in 22.
