Lottery winner acts part of loser

NEW YORK CITY, N.Y., June 17 (UPI) -- A New York City mobster-role actor is ready to put a hit on the state lottery after finding out he wasn't as lucky as he believed.

Vinny Vella, who has played Jimmy Petrille on "The Sopranos" and other gangsters on TV and movies, believed he had won $5 million after scratching off two numbers on a ticket last week. But lottery officials are saying that Vella's two lucky sevens was actually a faintly printed and worthless 17, the New York Post reported Tuesday.

Vella, 61, doesn't like playing the part of a loser after boasting of his new-found wealth. He has threatened both legal action and taking his claim public on his cable-TV show.

"If it's a misprint, it's not my fault," said Vella. "You know what I look like after telling everybody I won -- I look like some big ass ... I will do everything I can until these people are down on their knees."