Raffle winner thrilled to claim a $1 million Picasso with a $117 ticket

PARIS (AP) — A Parisian art enthusiast could not believe his luck when he found out Tuesday he’d won a Pablo Picasso painting worth $1 million with a $117 raffle ticket.

“How do I check that it’s not a hoax?” said Ari Hodara, 58, after organizers called him following the draw at Christie’s auction house in the French capital.

Hodara described himself as an art amateur fond of Picasso and said he bought his ticket over the weekend after finding out about the charity raffle by chance during a meal in a restaurant.