Williamstown, Massachusetts Man Wins First Ever $1 Million Prize at Celtics Games

Massachusetts residents love to gamble.

According to Masslottery.com, the Commonwealth's lottery broke records in 2019 hitting an all-time $5.509 billion in revenue, yielding a net profit of $1.104 billion. Between nine games (The Numbers Game, Keno, Jackpot Poker, All or Nothing, Mass Cash, Megabucks Doubler, Lucky for Life, Mega Millions, Powerball) and countless ever-changing scratch tickets, the Bay State's lottery is thriving.

As a whole, the United States spent $81.6 billion in state lotto tickets in 2019 across the 45 states where games are available, plus Washington D.C., Puerto Rico, and the US Virgin Islands. Alabama, Alaska, Hawaii, Utah, and Nevada do not have state lotteries.

Residents in the Bay State spent a whopping $951.92 per adult, which is more than any other state in the U.S. That's just over $600 more than the national average. Massachusetts does however have a higher-than-average return percentage with the average Massachusetts adult winning $701.50 annually.

While clearly many Massachusetts residents choose to take the traditional route of gambling, one lucky Massachusetts man hit it big in a unique way recently.

Williamstown, Massachusetts Man Wins First Ever $1 Million Prize at Celtics Game

This past Friday, a historic win took place at the TD Garden, but it had nothing to do with the Celtics or Bruins. Chatchavan Buasaengthong of Williamstown, Massachusetts became the first person ever to win a $1 million prize during a Boston Celtics game.

Buasaengthong was one of five contestants randomly selected through Second Chance Drawings of the Massachusetts State Lottery’s Celtics Banner 18 instant ticket game. Five folks who submitted non-winning Celtics scratchers through the state lottery were brought out on the court during halftime of the game.

While on the court, each contestant choose from an oversized Celtics lottery ticket, and while other contestants scored big with $10,000, Buasaengthong took the grand prize of $1 million, the first time anyone has won that prize at the game.

Buasaengthong, who lives in Williamstown, a small college town in the northern Berkshires, said he plans to use his winnings to purchase a home and start a business.