May 13, 2009 -- Early Wednesday morning, Jeri Buonincontra of Stratford was sound asleep when his father woke him abruptly with the resounding news, “You just hit the Lotto for $2.3 million!” “He was absolutely ecstatic,” said Buonincontra of his father’s reaction. As well he should be; his son was the single winning jackpot ticket holder for the Classic Lotto drawing held on May 12, 2009.

The winning numbers for May 12 were 8 – 14 – 23 – 25 – 27 – 35. In addition to the jackpot ticket, there were 7,424 winning tickets sold statewide for the drawing ranging from $2 to $1,814.

All but one of the winning numbers that Buonincontra selected had special significance to him. “When I marked the Lotto play slip with an 8 it was a mistake that I didn’t notice until later. It was supposed to be a 7,” Buonincontra explained.

It was a fortunate mistake indeed for Buonincontra. The 26 year old aircraft mechanic will soon be married to his long-time sweetheart, Danielle. Once Buonincontra confirmed the winning numbers on the lottery’s website (www.ctlottery.org) and then again in the morning newspaper, he immediately called his fiancée to share the incredible news. “I told her, ‘Babe, I hit for $2.3 million’…and then I started to cry,” Buonincontra told lottery officials.

Buonincontra arrived at Lottery Headquarters in Rocky Hill with his family shortly after learning he had won. After consulting with a financial advisor, Buonincontra opted to take the one-time cash lump sum value of $985,873, the prize value after taxes were deducted. The only plans Buonincontra had at the moment for his $2.3 million windfall was to give his fiancée the wedding of her dreams. “She deserves it,” Buonincontra said.

Buonincontra's winning jackpot ticket was purchased at Citgo Mart, on New Haven Avenue in Derby. A bonus of $10,000 is awarded to retailers in good standing that sell Classic Lotto jackpot tickets.