West Hartford Waitress Wins $255,555 Lottery Prize

A press release from the Connecticut Lottery:

The tables were turned midway through a very busy Mother’s Day shift at The Cheesecake Factory in WestHartford when waitress, Rachel Cisinski, 22, of Vernon, was served up with the most delicious news—her “5 Card Cash” lottery ticket was a $255,555 winner.

“My boyfriend called my cell phone six times.  He never does that, so I got worried and called him back.  When he told me, I didn’t believe it.  I made him text me a picture of the ticket,” said Cisinski with a laugh.

Cisinski’s 5 Card Cash ticket for May 9 made history as the first perfect match to the winning card symbols drawn:  JS, 8D, 10D, AH, 4S (Jack of Spades, 8 of Diamonds, 10 of Diamonds, Ace of Hearts, 4 of Spades).

In addition to Cisinski’s $255,555 top prize, 565 tickets on that date contained a match for prizes ranging from $20 to $555.  A total of 31,235 tickets contained “Instant Win” prizes ranging from a $2 free ticket to $555. Since ticket sales for 5 Card Cash began on May 4, a total of 193,948 winning tickets have been sold.

With a smile from ear to ear, Cisinski arrived at CT Lottery headquarters in Rocky Hill this morning to accept a prize check for $174,545 (value after taxes).  “I’m going to be smart,” Cisinski told lottery officials.  I’m going to put the money in the bank and take my time to decide the best way to use it.”

“5 Card Cash is all about players having fun, and hopefully a winning experience—one ticket with two games to win.  It’s a new game concept that is proving to be enormously popular with our players,” said Anne Noble, President and CEO of the CT Lottery.

For selling the top prize winning ticket, S&O Petroleum, located at 1292 Hartford Turnpike in Vernon, will receive a check for $2,500 from the CT Lottery.

The CT Lottery reminds the public that purchasers must be 18 or older, and to please play responsibly. For information about the CT Lottery, call (860) 713-2700 or visit CTLOTTERY.ORG. You can also follow them on YouTube channel (YouTube.com/CTLottery), Facebook (facebook.com/CTLottery) or Twitter (twitter.com/ctlottery).