Schenectady, NY- Thirty-three-year-old Payal Kamal of Jamaica, Queens, credits his mother with helping him win the $1,000,000 top prize on the New York Lottery’s Win For Life instant game.

“I asked my mom to pick up a scratch off ticket for me,” said Kamal. “When she returned home with two Win For Life tickets, she gave me one and kept the other. She gave me the winner - That’s my Mom.”

Kamal, who was recently laid off from his job as a facilities manager, plans to use his prize to invest, help family and friends, and purchase a home.

“I have been engaged for a year now,” he said. “So the money will make a nice nest egg too.”

Kamal’s mother, Rokeya, purchased her Win For Life instant tickets on June 2, 2008 at 178-05 Grocery Corp. in Jamaica, Queens. Payal Kamal claimed his winning ticket on June 9, 2008 at the Lottery’s Customer Service Center in Manhattan.

Kamal will receive his prize in quarterly payments of $13,000, less required tax withholdings, for the next 20 years. His net check will total $8,385.00.

The New York Lottery contributed nearly $2.6 billion to help support education in New York State on revenues of $7.549 billion in fiscal year 2007-08 - - a profit margin of 34.3%. Last year, the Lottery’s earnings accounted for over 13% of total state education funding. The New York Lottery continues to be North America’s largest and most profitable Lottery, earning over $34.2 billion in education support statewide since its founding over 40 years ago.