Update: $1 million R.I. lottery winner had 'gray, sick look'
3:22 PM Fri, Jan 02, 2009 | Permalink
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By Kate Bramson New Year's Day morning Rebecca Broccoli turned to her husband of 20 years and asked him if he wanted another cup of coffee. He had this "gray, sick look," she said. "Are you sick?" she asked. No, Anthony Broccoli said, "I got it ... the ticket."' The 47-year-old Johnston man now had tears in his eyes, but Rebecca still didn't know what he was talking about. "What ticket?" she asked, her voice rising. "We got the winning ticket," he said, and then he handed the paper to her to double check. Anthony Broccoli had watched the announcement the night before, but he thought the 105 was higher than the beginning numbers on any of the tickets he had purchased. He went to bed without checking further. He likes to buy his lottery tickets early. So he gave a $20 bill to an employee at Ribs & Company on Atwood Avenue in Johnston, where he likes to play Keno, and he asked him to buy one of the first tickets for him when they went on sale. But he "had a few extra bucks" close to the deadline and bought one last ticket. "I was actually saying, " Some jerk bought a ticket last minute, and he's going to win,'" Broccoli said Friday at the lottery headquarters in Cranston. "And it turned out that I was that jerk because I did buy a last-minute ticket and it turned out to be the winning ticket." Thursday morning, as the winning number was reported again on television, he pulled his tickets out of his wallet. He was surprised to see that one of his tickets began with the number 105 -- and ended with the remaining three winning numbers. He went to the computer, where he had to first download a version of Adobe Reader to check his number. "I checked it and then I checked it again and a third time," he said. "Then I X'ed out of everything and rebooted the computer -- just in case -- and checked it a fourth time." That's when he told Rebecca he had it. The couple who won Rhode Island Lottery's Million Dollar Raffle Game claimed their prize this morning at lottery headquarters then headed out for breakfast at about 11:25 a.m. The tax man got his share, of course, so their winnings work out to $680,000. The Broccolis will put money toward college tuition for their sons, Aaron, 17, and Avery, 15, they said in an interview this morning. Anthony Broccoli owns an auto body shop in Warwick. He says he's lucky and won $21,000 in a Keno game earlier this year. He said he is always lucky -- he often plays Keno and won enough to put in an above-ground pool at their home one year. They bought the winning ticket at Convenience Plus, 1501 Atwood Ave., Johnston, according to a lottery spokeswoman. -- With reports from Journal photographer Kathy Borchers 
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I know the Broccoli family personally and I think that this is a great thing to happen to the entire family. A nicer couple could not have won. Anthony and Becky are both very hard workers, honest and compassionate people. Congrats!!!
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And 119,999 losers paid for it. And the "winners" only get 68% of the advertised winnings. When are people going to understand this ripoff? When is the ProJo going to publish stories on all the losers? What a bad joke on everybody.
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Good thing they weren't playing poker.
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Gary:
How can this be a "bad joke on everybody"? Everyone knew what the chances were for winning the jackpot. As far as getting 68% of the winnings, that goes for the taxes.
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Those luckies!
I went out to buy a last minute ticket on the last day and they were sold out. Just my luck – it was probably my ticket!
Not a bad return on a $20 investment.
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"The lottery is a tax on people who are bad at math."
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Glad to see it was a regular lottery player and not one of those people who just buy a ticket once in a while. Congrats to you and your family!!
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I'm happy for the winners, anytime you can put up 20 bucks and get a return of 680 million clear is a no brainer. I hope they do this more often, even though I didn't win it was exciting to check for the winning numbers.
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You people complaining all seems selfish & stupid. You all knew ahead what the odds at winning were, yet because it wasn't YOU that won, ya'll complain about the "system". Get a life!!! 68% is better than 0% any day!!!
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what are you people whining about -do the math dummies 680 thou is a lot more than 20 bucks any day of the week where i come from besides nobody twisted your arm to fork over the 20 bucks
congrats to the winners!!!!!
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I know Anthony through his auto body business and the winning ticket could not have gone to a nicer guy. He is a hard worker and a great family man. Good for you Anthony, enjoy!!
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Congratulations to the Broccoli family, I wish you well and a very happy future.
To all the others, it is easier and less work to be joyful for someone than being miserable and always looking at the downside of things. Maybe, just maybe if more people thought in a positive manner than negative, imagine all the winners that we would be surrounded by :)
Peace~
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I am happy to see that the money went to someone "regular", not someone who already has a million. Congrats to the Broccoli family!
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The lame part of this story is that the winner had to download Acrobat Reader to read the winning ticket number online. Note to the RI Lottery: lose the PDF files and put the info up in HTML!
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Congratulations to the Broccoli family! What a way to start off the New Year. To the people complaining: There were rules to buying the tickets, as with any other lottery. Maybe you all should try to be positive about their experience. Good things do come to those who wait!
Again, congratulations to the Broccoli family, and Happy New Year to all.
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Becky, Anthony, and their sons are a wonderful hardworking, caring, and loving family. I can't think of a better family to win - other than mine of course (smile). Congratulations to them! They deserve it. All the best............
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I grew up with Becky,and she is a wonderful person,she comes from a great family.Congrats Becky..
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