Florida is boasting a swath of big winners from Powerball, Mega Millions and scratch-off games, possibly due to an absurdly high Powerball jackpot. Despite winning the jackpot in California, there were dozens of Powerball winners in Florida.
More than 2 dozen Powerball winners in Florida
The Florida Lottery hit a new record in the last fiscal year, selling more than $9 billion in lottery tickets. It raised over $2.2 billion for education, another record.
Earlier this week, the Powerball jackpot passed the $2 billion mark, the largest lottery jackpot ever. While a merchant in California sold the winning Powerball jackpot ticket, “jackpot fever” took off across the country, including in Florida. More than two dozen Florida lottery players won between $50,000 and $2 million in prize money.
Three Florida Powerball tickets won second-tier prizes. Those are won when a ticket matches all five of the white ball numbers but not the Powerball number. One player won $2 million, while two other players won $1 million apiece.
The $2 million Powerball ticket was sold at K&M Drugs in Poinciana. Each of the $1 million winning tickets were sold at separate locations. The first was sold in Wellington at Wellington Marathon. The second was sold in Deerfield Beach at Sunshine.
There were an additional 23 Florida tickets which won third-tier Powerball prizes. Third-tier prizes are defined as matching four of five white ball numbers and the Powerball number. Four players won $100,000. The other 19 players walked away with $50,000 in winnings.
Lottery announces other winners in Florida
While the Powerball jackpot is what stimulated the purchasing of so many Powerball tickets, that does not mean the only winners came from the pool of Powerball players.
On Nov. 4, Donna Dubois, 58, from Ormond Beach claimed the $15 million Florida Lotto jackpot after buying her jackpot-winning ticket at V Discount Beverage. Her ticket was won in the July 23 drawing. Dubois elected to have her winnings paid to her in a one-time, lump-sum payment of $9.9 million. V Discount Beverage receives $100,000 for selling the winning ticket.
On Nov. 3, Shmuel Febles, 56, of Hollywood bought a winning Mega Millions ticket which featured all five white balls but did not match the Mega Millions number. The Broward County man won $1 million.
It was not disclosed if he took installments or a lump sum payout. He won in the July 26 drawing. He purchased his winning ticket at Stirling Petroleum Inc. in Dania Bench. Stirling collected a $1,000 bonus for selling the winning ticket.
Florida players also won big on scratchers
The winnings do not stop there. In addition to winners playing Powerball, Mega Millions and other lottery draw games, there were many big winners who played scratch ticket games.
On Nov. 8 in Sarasota, Mary Vitullo, 63, claimed the top prize in the 50X THE CASH scratch ticket game, which netted her $1 million. Vitullo elected to receive her winnings in a lump sump of $820,000. She purchased her winning ticket at Publix in Sarasota. The retailer was paid a $2,000 bonus for selling the winning ticket.
The 50X THE CASH scratch ticket game is a $5 scratch ticket which features over $215 million in cash prizes as well as 12 top prizes worth $1 million each.
The Florida Lottery said on Nov. 7 that a 63-year-old man from Orange County, Nagendra KC, claimed the top prize for the Cash Club $10 scratch ticket game. He won $1 million and elected to take the lump sum of $880,000. He purchased the ticket at a Circle K in Orlando, which earned the retailer a $2,000 bonus for selling it. Cash Club offers more than $146 million in cash prizes.
Man struck Gold with scratch-off ticket
The winnings still do not stop there. On Nov. 7, Marcus Carson, 36, from Santa Rosa County purchased a GOLD RUSH LIMITED scratch-off ticket which happened to be one of the winning tickets. That earned Carson a $1 million cash prize. He took the lump sum of $795,000.
GOLD RUSH LIMITED is a $20 scratch ticket with 32 top prizes worth $5 million and another 100 prizes worth $1 million. Carson bought his winning ticket at Quick Stop in Panama City. The retailer gets a $2,000 bonus.
Man in Tampa also won $1M
Ramon Diaz Moreno played the $50 scratch ticket game called 500X THE CASH – which boasts the largest-ever top prize of $25 million – and won $1 million. Moreno took the lump sump of $820,000. The retailer – in this case, Town and Country Beverage in Tampa – received a $2,000 bonus for selling the winning ticket.
With so many winning tickets recently, the Florida Lottery launched a new scratch game. The FLORIDA X CASH family of scratch ticket games will range from $1 to $10 to purchase. It launched on Nov. 5 and features 33 million winning tickets and more than $400 million in total cash prizes.
