Offbeat | ‘This is impossible:’ New York man wins his 2nd USD1m lottery

A construction worker who won USD1 million in a lottery scratch-­off game four years ago has defied enormous odds by hitting a $1 million jackpot again.
But don’t call him lucky.
After Bruce Magistro hit the jackpot the first time in 2012, his wife, Yvonne, lost a three-year battle with cancer. Much of the prize money went to pay for her medical bills.
“She passed away two years ago today,” Magistro’s son, Nick Mayers, said yesterday [Macau time]. He said he was sure the second jackpot was her way of sending help back to the family.
“This is definitely a gift, from her to him,” Mayers said.
State lottery officials introduced Magistro at a news conference at the Long Island gas station where he bought the second winning ticket April 11.
Magistro said he plays the lottery every day and plunked down $20 at Mike’s Super Citgo in West Babylon for a set of 10 Win for Life scratch-offs.
“This is impossible,” Magistro said he thought as he scratched off a lottery ticket and realized he won $1 million. “I just couldn’t believe I hit it two times.” He now plans to share his winnings with his three children and his fiancee.
Magistro won $1 million on a different lottery scratch-off game he played at the same gas station in 2012.
The latest win came the first time he had played the Win for Life game, which will pay him $1,000 each week — with a minimum of $1 million — for the rest of his life.
Lottery representative Yolanda Vega, who had presented Magistro with a ceremonial check for his first win, said even then she felt he could win a second time.
State gaming officials said the odds Magistro beat to get the Win for Life grand prize were 1 in 7,745,600, and they were 1 in 2,520,000 when he won the Extreme Cash scratch-off in 2012.