First time player wins $150,000 Lotto

Nineteen-year-old Diane Smith is one hundred and fifty thousand dollars richer after winning one of the biggest draws in the history of Lotto. This afternoon Smith walked into the offices of Tropical Gaming Company to pick up her prize and let the public meet their new best friend. Smith, who has plans to continue her studies in August, told News 5’s Jacqueline Woods that even though she just started playing Lotto, she already had plans for how she’d spend the money if her numbers ever played.

Jacqueline Woods

“How long have you been buying Lotto?”

Diane Smith, $150,000 Lotto Winner

“For the first time on Saturday.”

Jacqueline Woods

“And what did you do to pick the numbers?”

Diane Smith

“Recently I had a friend who died, he was thirty-four years old, my uncle was twenty-five years old when he died. The two that died, their son was seventeen months, one of the seventeen month died and then I asked my mom for another number and she gave me one; and that was it.”

Jacqueline Woods

“So that means mommy will be getting a piece of this pie?”

Diane Smith

“She has to get a piece of the pie.”

Jacqueline Woods

“I guess you have plans already, what you gonna do with the money?”

Diane Smith

“Well first I’m gonna look at school then a house, then a car.”

Jacqueline Woods

“You said it was the first time that you bought Lotto, so when you heard that you had won, how did you react?”

Diane Smith

“No kind of way. I just called a friend of mine to check if the numbers correct. That’s what I did, just check if the numbers were correct, gone dah church, come back, check it again, see if dah the correct numbers.”

Following the usual fifteen percent tax deduction, Smith takes home one hundred and twenty-seven thousand, five hundred dollars.