Community Corner

Branford's Mark Dobuzinsky Cashes in a $25K Lucky for Life Ticket

Congratulations to Mark on his "Lucky" lotto ticket!


Mark Dobuzinsky of Branford purchased a Lucky for Life ticket for the July 18th drawing and won the game’s second-prize for $25,000.

On July 18, the “special birthday numbers” that Dobuzinsky played missed matching the Lucky Ball number, 21, but matched five of the winning numbers drawn; 1 - 7 - 16 - 24 – 26, for a prize match worth $25,000.

“I usually watch the drawing on TV, but last night I fell asleep,” Dobuzinsky told lottery officials.  “I woke up at around 12:30am, logged onto the lottery’s website (ctlottery.org) and immediately saw the numbers were a match.  I signed the ticket and then told my wife and daughter that we won $25,000.  We were so excited, nobody slept after that!”

Today, Dobuzinsky and his family arrived at CT Lottery headquarters in Rocky Hill to claim his $25,000 prize.  “We’ll pay off a couple bills and help our grandkids.  It’s definitely going to help a lot in a number of ways,” Dobuzinsky said.

Dobuzinsky purchased his winning ticket at Big Y World Class Market #12, located at 1060 W. Main Street in Branford.

Across New England, 64,299 winning Lucky for Life tickets were purchased for July 18.  A total of 21,430 tickets were sold in CT alone with prizes ranging from $2 to $25,000.  Lucky for Life’s top prize is worth a life-altering $1,000 a day, every day for life.

Since the first “Lucky for Life” drawing was held on March 15, 2012, there have been more than 3,100,000 Lucky winning tickets sold in CT alone, including 3 top prize winning tickets, each worth $1,000 a day for life, and 33 second-prize winning tickets, each worth $25,000.

About Lucky for Life:

Lucky for Life is a unique lottery game because its top prize value is based on the longevity of the winner.  The minimum guaranteed amount a top prize winner will receive is $7,300,000 ($1,000 a day for 20 years), but winners who live longer than that will receive prize payments for the remainder of their natural life.

Lucky for Life is the first "New England Only" lottery game.  There are 10 total ways to win.  Those matching all numbers drawn win the game’s top prize of up to $1,000 a day for life.

The game also features other cash prizes ranging from $2 to $25,000.  Overall odds of winning a prize are 1 in 6.6.  Odds of winning the top prize are 1 in 13,818,168.

Tickets are $2 each and are sold at Lottery retailers in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont.  Winning tickets must be redeemed in the state where purchased.

In CT, Lucky for Life tickets expire 180 days from the drawing date.  Drawings are held every Monday and Thursday at 10:38pm in Connecticut.  Lucky for Life game information can be found at ctlottery.orgor neluckyforlife.com.

Information courtesy of the CT Lottery


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