blamington

An Irish woman stranded by winter storms in the United States has won a jackpot of $21.5 million (€15.6 million) in the New York State Lottery.

Patricia Eisel (40), a mother of three who lives in Long Beach, Nassau County, posted all six numbers in the multi-million Lotto jackpot on January 5th after spending €8.

nettlebed

If she "lives in Long Beach, Nassau County" how can she be "stranded [...] in the United States"?

blamington

When collecting her prize, Ms Eisel, who moved to the United States in 1995, told reporters she was meant to be back in Ireland at the time of playing the lottery. Bad winter weather over Christmas forced her to stay in the New York, where she bought her winning ticket.

Bluegrass Lass

Ahhh..the thread title is a bit deceiving. I assumed it was an Irish citizen on holiday in NY who decided to buy a ticket. If that was the case, then she would not receive any winnings, even with a winning ticket. You have to be a US resident to win a lottery (at least all the lotteries I've ever played said that in their rules). Wish we had that kinda luck!

nettlebed

Moved from where? Is she an Irish woman, and woman who lives in Ireland, or what? Eisel certainly doesn't sound like an Irish name in the way that, say, O'Halloran, or Moran does, does it now?

I'm suspectin' panderin' on the part of the reporters now, aren't I?

blamington

Congratulations to her! It's great as she needs the money. I still wonder about splashing her name and photograph all over the media. She will be pestered by people asking if they can "borrow" some money. I hope she is strong enough to say, "no". I hope she gets independent professional advice, otherwise, in a few years, we may be reading how she is broke and back to square one again.

Rete

It is written in the rules and regulations that winner must make their names and photos available for publication.

robin1234

It looks like she is Irish & married an American, so Eisel is her married name. Mr. Eisel moved out on her and the kids a short while ago, if I were him I'd be trying to mend the fences now....

MandyNi

All I know is it wasn't bloody me!

robin1234

It's a damn shame. I could really use $12.5 million. Having just spent a pleasant week in New York City, it has dawned on me that I would like a pied-à-terre on the Upper West Side. It would be nice to be able to walk home from the opera or ballet.

TimFountain

Ohh opera or ballet, now that's posh!

cindyabs

Ditto. I'd be happy with the interest off it.

robin1234

Not posh - just fun!!

Oregon4now

Uhm.. no you don't, all you have to do is pay the appropriate taxes. Fact.

Yes, non-US citizens can legally play, and non-US citizens are eligible to win any prize offered in the game.
If a non-US citizen wins, they would claim their prize in the same manner that a US citizen would, but the taxes withheld would be different. For example, federal withholding for non-US citizens is a flat 30%. Also, individual states may have different tax structures for non-US citizens than they do for US citizens. Depending on which country the person is a legal resident of, there also may be tax treaties between the US and that other country which could be helpful in offsetting whatever the US tax liabilities are.

blamington

Patricia Daly Eisel was shattered when she and her husband Jamie Eisel split last year, but after the mother of three won $21.5m on the New York State Lottery, it may be his turn to cry.

‘They share the kids between them. As far as I know, it’s all very amicable.’

‘He left her,’ said a Tullamore resident who knows the family. ‘It will be interesting now to see if he will go and seek a share of the win.’