BOSTON - Louise Outing's luck ran out Thursday when a judge denied the 94-year-old woman's request to force the state Lottery Commission to pay her entire $5.6 million winnings up front.

Superior Court Justice Barbara A. Dortch-Okara's ruling allows the Lottery to go ahead with plans to pay the Everett woman in installments over 20 years.

"I expected that," Outing said late Thursday afternoon. "I'll make out some kind of way."

Outing, a retired waitress who won a Megabucks lottery drawing in September, said she won't live to collect her full winnings. She wants to take care of her seven grandchildren, nine great-grandchildren, and six great-great-grandchildren.

"I'd like to get it and do what I want with it," she said. "I'm not going to live 20 years. I'll be 95 in March."

Dortch-Okara said because Outing and similar winners "have other options available to them to receive an immediate lump sum payout of their lottery proceeds, there is no irreparable harm."

Lottery Executive Director Joseph Sullivan said the rules are printed on the back of Megabucks tickets. Only the multistate Mega Millions game offers a lump-sum option, he said.

"All Lottery players who win Megabucks prizes are held to the same rules and regulations as Ms. Outing, and these rules and regulations are reviewed with the winners when they claim their prizes," Sullivan said in a statement.

Lottery winners are allowed to "assign" their winnings to a state-approved financial company that makes the full payment in return for a percentage of the total winnings.

Outing's lawyer, James Dilday, said that's an option if they decide not to appeal. But he added that the rules give Lottery officials discretion to authorize a lump-sum payment.

"They have the authority to do it, they just won't do it," Dilday said. "They just don't care. They're telling this woman to go take a hike."

After an initial gross payment of $283,770, Outing would be paid 19 annual gross checks of $280,000.

After taxes, it's $196,639 a year.