South Torrington,Connecticut: Couple Claims $5.5 Classic Lotto Jackpot

South Torrington,Connecticut: Couple Claims $5.5 Classic Lotto Jackpot

Lightning protection company employee experiences a hit of his own
The odds of being hit by lightning are 576,000 to one, while the chance to win
the CT Lottery’s Classic Lotto jackpot are more than 12 times greater, at 7.1 million to 1. Yet, for Torrington resident Jim Seitz, who is employed in the lightning protection industry, winning the March 18 Connecticut Lotto jackpot worth $5,511,009 was a jolt he didn’t mind experiencing.

Connecticut’s Newest Millionaires, Jim and Jean Seitz, today claimed the Classic Lotto jackpot they won,
at Connecticut Lottery headquarters in New Britain. Their ticket was the only one sold statewide that had the jackpot winning combination for that night’s Lotto drawing.
It’s a matter of habit for Jim Seitz to stop by the Winsted Road Mobil Station in South Torrington each Tuesday and Friday before the game’s drawing, and then to check the numbers on his ticket in the next day’s news. Jim noticed the first number on his Quick Pick Connecticut Lotto ticket was a match. The second number matched as well. And, the third. Seeing a fourth number match, Jim was pleased, thinking he’d won a prize of around $40. It was then that he realized that all six numbers on his ticket matched those in the paper, and the jackpot win was his.

Jim and Jean relied on the Connecticut Lottery’s web site to check their
numbers again, against the results shown there. About a dozen times,
Jim joked when asked about verifying the numbers. Searching the site,
they located information about steps to take if you’re a winner, which
includes encouraging winners to seek professional legal and financial
planning advice.


That advice helped the Seitz’s to determine a one-time cash lump sum payment, rather than a 21-year annuity option, would most suit their long-term financial needs and goals. The jackpot’s lump sum value was $3,400,807. which brought the net amount of their prize to $2,380,568.

We are pleased that, like the vast majority of our jackpot winners, Jim and Jean have taken a thoughtful approach to planning for their future. We applaud their actions, and wish them all the best as they venture into this new phase of their lives, noted the President and CEO of the Connecticut Lottery.