New York Knicks fan wins $3.4m jackpot in Connecticut

• A man who purposefully traveled to Connecticut to buy his ticket has won a $3.4m jackpot
• The winner, Bernard Bonaparte, told an interviewer that he had indeed scouted out the location, pointing out previous big-winning tickets sold there
• Bonaparte appeared at the CT Lottery headquarters wearing his Knicks attire, celebrating both his own win as well as the team’s

A New York man was shocked to find out that he had won a $3.4m jackpot from the lottery in Connecticut.

The winner, a lifelong New York Knicks fan, has attributed his incredible streak of good luck to the team's NBA Championship and securing the title in the 2025/2026 season, the first championship since 1973, in a historic series against the Spurs.

Knicks secure historic title, Bonaparte - a life-changing sum

And, apparently, the Knicks winning after five decades of struggle has also brought one Bernard Bonaparte his own good fortune, with the man arriving at CT Lottery headquarters to claim his multi-million-dollar prize valued at $3.4m.

Bonaparte traveled to Connecticut in style, sporting attire bearing the signage of his favorite basketball team and making this a double celebration for the 53-year-old man.

In accepting the sizeable check and posing for the customary photo-op, Bonaparte appeared to be excited just as much about the Knicks’ victory as he was about his own life-changing win.

"The Knicks won! That’s what it is. The Knicks won, I got some money. I can go relax now. That’s what’s important right now. The Knicks won the championship after 53 years. Now, I feel like I’m a double winner," he told the lottery.

And while much can be attributed to luck, Bonaparte was actually quite happy to explain why he played the lottery in Connecticut, arguing that it was part of a larger design. Bonaparte admitted to buying the ticket for the $25,000 scratch game at a Gulf station on purpose.

He said that it made sense, because the venue had previously sold a $1m scratch game winning ticket, as well as another worth $4.3m before that.

To Bonaparte’s mind, this was surely one of the reasons to try his luck locally, and he did find the trip to Connecticut worthwhile, especially now that he added his name to the list of winners, and has once again burnished the Gulf station venue’s credentials as a hot spot for multi-million-dollar winning lottery tickets.

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