Elderly sisters fight over lottery ticket

HARTFORD, Conn. – A passion for gambling shared by two once-inseparable octogenarian sisters has ended up dividing them, with the Connecticut Supreme Court ruling that one can sue the other for a share of a winning $500,000 lottery ticket.

The court said 83-year-old Theresa Sokaitis, of Middletown, can try to enforce a written contract she signed with her 87-year-old sister, Rose Bakaysa, of Plainville, agreeing to split any gambling winnings.

Sokaitis says she is due a share of a $500,000 Powerball jackpot won by Bakaysa and their brother, Joseph F. Troy Sr., in 2005.

Sokaitis said she and her sister used to gamble together frequently, play the same lottery numbers, and play the slots and cards at the Foxwoods Resort Casino.

“Almost every day, I’d pick her up, and we’d go riding around,” she said. “We went to the casino a lot, and we always shared everything.”

Sokaitis said they decided to put the agreement in writing in 1995 after she won more than $160,000 playing poker at Foxwoods and split it with Bakaysa.

But at some point the two had a falling out.