NSW: $3.5m brings good luck to Riverina lottery winner
SYDNEY, Dec 13 AAP - It might not be raining in the drought-stricken NSW Riverina butFriday the 13th brought a downpour of a different kind for one lucky resident who wona $3.5 million plus lottery jackpot.
The anonymous winner bought their $5 Jackpot Lottery ticket from the newsagency inthe tiny Riverina town of Coleambally, NSW Lotteries announced today.
Coleambally, with a population of 650, is doing it tough in the drought.
"We didn't get any good rainfall at all this week," Coleambally Newsagency owner BillIrvine said today.
"The dams are very low, and farmers are only planting half the rice crop they normallywould because of the drought."
But Mr Irvine said the lottery win was bound to boost morale.
"It certainly livens the town up a bit," he said, predicting residents would be "diggingold tickets out from everywhere".
It's not the first time Mr Irvine has sold a winning ticket in his newsagency.
Around three years ago a lucky customer won the $2 Jackpot Lottery for $3.55 million- exactly the same as today's winning amount.
Though the townspeople had not yet started beating a path to his door to buy lotterytickets, Mr Irvine said "they seem to think we're a lucky little shop".
NSW Lotteries Communications Manager John Vineburg said many people considered BlackFriday a lucky day to buy a ticket.
"We've seen as much as a 200 or 300 per cent increase of sales on Friday the 13th," he said.
In 1996, the then record amount of $5.65 million was won on Friday, September 13.
AAP ka/nf/cjh/de
KEYWORD: JACKPOT
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