Florida Woman Claims $396.9 Million Powerball Jackpot
Wednesday March 11th 2020Sheryll Goedert of Ocala in central Florida has come forward to claim the $396.9 million Powerball jackpot won on January 29.
The 61-year-old managing member of Vacation Life LLC chose to receive the prize as a single lump sum payment of $276,558,034.09 before tax withholdings.
Goedert is an accountant, and her tax and financial know-how will certainly be an asset now as she manages her new wealth!
The winning ticket matched all six numbers in the January 29 drawing - white balls 9, 12, 15, 31, 60 and the red Powerball 2.
The ticket was a Quick Pick purchased at 7-Eleven, 4520 Bonita Beach Road in Bonita Springs in the southwest of the state. The retailer will be paid a $100,000 bonus for selling the winning ticket.
The January Powerball win was the largest since a Wisconsin man won $768.4 million in the March 27, 2019 drawing.
This is the 13th Powerball jackpot won in the Sunshine State. Florida is one of the top states for Powerball purchases, with ticket sales of over $5.1 billion since the game launched, of which more than $2 billion has contributed to education locally.
Did you buy a ticket for the January 29 drawing? Don't forget to check your numbers - there are more unclaimed prizes when the jackpot is super-sized!
Tampa woman claims $2 million scratch-off prize
In other lottery news out of Florida, 23-year-old Tampa resident Karina De Los Santos claimed a $2 million prize from the $10 Gold Rush Classic scratch-off game on March 11. She chose to receive a single lump sum payout of $1,405,000.
De Los Santos already knows just what she'll do with her windfall. "I want to invest in myself by opening up my own nail salon!"
The winning ticket was sold at Publix, 10015 North Dale Mabry Highway in Tampa. The store will be paid a $4,000 retailer bonus.
The Gold Rush Classic game was introduced in January 2019 and offers over $246.8 million in prizes, with ten $2 million top prizes. The overall odds of winning a prize are 1 in 3.49.
Scratch-offs make up a majority of Florida Lottery ticket sales - about 69 percent - and raised over $965 million for the Educational Enhancement Trust Fund in the last fiscal year.
Florida ticket wins $5 million Mega Millions prize
A Florida ticket also hit a $5 million Mega Millions prize in the Tuesday, March 10 drawing. The ticket matched the five main numbers, which were 6, 17, 48, 54 and 69, to win the game's Match 5 second prize.
Normally the win would be $1 million, but the player added the Megaplier option when buying the ticket. Megaplier is a number that is selected in every draw and multiplies non-jackpot prizes. On Tuesday it was 5X, so the lucky ticket is now worth $5 million!
About the Florida Lottery
The Florida Lottery has distributed over $36 billion to education in the state and helped more than 840,000 students attend college via the Bright Futures Scholarship Program. The Lottery reinvests 98 percent of revenue back into the state through prizes, retailer commissions, and contributions to education. The Florida Lottery has paid out $66.9 billion in prizes and created over 2,800 millionaires since 1988.
Next lottery drawings
The next Mega Millions drawing is Friday, March 13, for an $80 million jackpot, while Powerball will be drawn on Saturday, March 14 and the jackpot stands at $120 million. There's still time to get your tickets for both draws!
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