Fortunate In Florida: Publix In Lutz Sells Winning $238 Million Powerball Ticket

Written By JR Duren on April 1, 2021

The end of the Powerball rainbow landed in Lutz, Florida, this past week.

A Publix on North Nebraska Avenue in Lutz sold a winning Powerball ticket worth $238 million. The winning ticket matched the five winning numbers and the Powerball, resulting in a big payday that’s yet to be claimed.

The winning numbers were 6-14-38-39-65, and the Powerball was 6. The jackpot win was the first one since Jan. 30.

Smaller wins joined jackpot triumph

What we know about Saturday’s winner is where the ticket was purchased. As a result, the Publix that sold the ticket will receive a $95,000 bonus. We also obviously know the winning numbers and the size of the prize.

What is unknown, however, is who bought the ticket. The winner had not claimed the prize as of Thursday morning, per the Florida Lottery.

The jackpot winner was one of a few lucky individuals in the Sunshine State this past week.

A Circle K in Macclenny sold a $150,000 winning ticket, and a Boca Raton Publix sold two $50,000 winners.

$28 million Florida Lotto ticket sold in Davie

Florida’s good luck didn’t end with the Powerball drawing.

The Florida Lottery announced Monday that a Florida Lotto ticket sold at a Shell station in Davie won a $28 million jackpot. The Shell station will receive a $100,000 bonus.

The winning numbers, 09-17-25-29-52-53, hit March 27. But a winner has yet to claim the winning ticket.

The Powerball and Florida Lotto jackpot winners have 60 days from the date of the drawing, March 27, to claim a lump-sum, one-time payout, according to the Florida Lottery. If the winners choose to receive their jackpot through annual payments, they have to file their claim within 180 days of the winning draw date.

Florida’s Powerball hot streak continues

On March 2, 2016, a winning Powerball ticket was sold in Florida, bestowing on the winner a $191.47 million jackpot. The Sunshine State didn’t hit another jackpot until nearly four years later, and it seems as though it’s making up for lost time:

  • January 29, 2020: $396.9 million jackpot winner
  • August 12, 2020: $168.5 million jackpot winner
  • March 27, 2021: $238 million jackpot winner

Three of the past 11 winners have come from Florida, accounting for 20% of Florida’s 15 Powerball jackpot winners. The two 2020 winners chose to receive their jackpot as a lump sum rather than a yearly payout.

Photo by AP / Phil Sears
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JR Duren

J.R. Duren has covered the gambling beats for more than a dozen states for Catena Media since 2015. His past reporting experience includes two years at the Villages Daily Sun, and he is a first-place winner at the Florida Press Club Excellence in Journalism Contest.

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