Lightning has struck twice for one Ocean County couple — and this time, it hit with a $3 million jolt.
A New Jersey husband and wife, already celebrating a $1 million lottery win from earlier this year, have defied astronomical odds by claiming a second massive jackpot: the $3 million top prize from a Jackpot Millions Scratch-Off ticket. The winning ticket was purchased at the Fischer Bay Exxon on Fischer Boulevard in Toms River.
The $30 Scratch-Off game offers only three top prizes statewide and carries odds of about 1 in 2 million. But the couple’s larger feat — winning both the $1 million prize in April and now the $3 million jackpot — carries odds estimated at 1 in 2 trillion, according to the New Jersey Lottery.
Lottery officials say the couple’s second win started like countless evenings in their home: buying a few tickets after dinner and scratching them once their children — ages 5 and 11 months — were tucked into bed.
But their familiar routine turned surreal when the husband passed a suspiciously promising ticket to his wife for confirmation. Moments later, they were staring at a $3 million winner.
It’s the same ritual that led to their first windfall on April 1, when they claimed the $1 million top prize on the $1,000,000 Ultimate Spectacular ticket, also sold in Ocean County.
New Jersey Lottery Director James Carey said the double win is the kind of statistical anomaly that grabs headlines nationwide.
“I’ve always said that you only need one ticket to win big,” Carey said. “But I guess, in this case, two tickets certainly didn’t hurt.”
Their combined winnings now total $4 million in just over six months — a financial transformation the couple calls “life-changing,” especially as they prepare to welcome another child.
Though New Jersey law allows lottery winners to remain anonymous, the couple chose to share their story publicly, hoping to stress that they treat the lottery as entertainment — not income.