New Jersey Couple Wins $3M Lottery After Prior $1M Jackpot

A couple from New Jersey has experienced an extraordinary stroke of luck, winning two substantial lottery prizes in 2025. They secured a remarkable $3 million jackpot from a scratch-off ticket just months after claiming a $1 million prize from the New Jersey Lottery. Their first win occurred earlier this year while playing the Ultimate Spectacular game.

The couple’s latest victory came from the Jackpot Millions game, which they purchased from an Exxon station in Fischer Bay. The husband shared that he and his wife often engage in a friendly competition to see who can score the most from their scratch-off tickets. “With our kids, we can’t really get out of the house,” he explained. “So at the beginning of the month, we get some tickets. When the kids go to bed, we scratch a few off. We like to make it a bit of a competition — who can win the most. It seems we at least always break even.”

Upon scratching the ticket, the husband realized he had won big before finishing the game. He handed the ticket to his wife for confirmation. “I looked at it, held it to my chest and screamed,” she recounted of the moment they discovered their good fortune.

The odds of winning two million-dollar lottery prizes within a year are incredibly low, estimated at 1 in 2 trillion, according to officials from the New Jersey Lottery. In comparison, they noted that it is 1.2 million times more likely for a person to be struck by a meteorite than to achieve the couple’s lottery success.

New Jersey Lottery Director James Carey attributed the couple’s wins to “pure, blind luck.” He stated, “I’ve always said that you only need one ticket to win big. But I guess, in this case, two tickets certainly didn’t hurt! This is just pure blind luck.”

With two young children, aged 5 months and 11 months, and another on the way, the couple expressed their intention to use their winnings to secure a better future for their family. As they navigate the challenges of parenthood, this unexpected financial windfall will provide essential support for their growing household.