Florida Winner Claims $168.5 Million Powerball Jackpot
Sunday September 6th 2020A Florida Lottery player has come forward to redeem his $168.5 million Powerball ticket less than a month after the drawing that turned him into an overnight millionaire.
William Kruger of Lantana opted to receive the prize as a cash option lump sum of $140,145,006.00. His lucky Quick Pick ticket hit all six numbers in the August 12, 2020 draw: 2, 6, 18, 36, 37, plus Powerball 21.
Kruger picked up his ticket at Publix, 4770 North Congress Avenue in Boynton Beach. The store received a $100,000 bonus for selling the ticket.
The jackpot is the largest lottery prize ever won in Palm Beach County, and is more than twice as much as the previous top Powerball prize won locally. In 2010, a Broward County woman won $73.8 million with a ticket from Publix, Southern Boulevard in Royal Palm Beach.
Although Florida Lottery winners have an extended period to claim prizes due to the coronavirus pandemic, Kruger wasted no time in coming forward just weeks after winning.
He left his prize claim in the secure drop box located at Florida Lottery Headquarters in Tallahassee. The Lottery implemented the drop box claim system after offices closed to the public because of the spread of COVID-19.
The secure drop boxes are located at Lottery HQ and district offices throughout the state. Prizes can also be claimed by mail.
Florida's Powerball Winning Streak Continues
Kruger is the 14th Powerball jackpot winner in Florida - not so surprising, since the Sunshine State is one of the game's top-selling jurisdictions.
This is the second time this year that a Florida player has won the Powerball top prize. On January 29, 2020, Sheryll Goedert of Ocala hit a $396.9 million jackpot.
Goedert bought her winning Quick Pick ticket at 7-Eleven, 4520 Bonita Beach Road in Bonita Springs. The 61-year-old accountant chose the cash option and received $276,558,034.09 before taxes.
Top Florida Powerball winners include:
- Gloria Mackenzie of Zephyrhills, who won $590.5 million in 2013 - at the time the largest prize hit by one ticket in US history
- David Kaltschmidt and Maureen Smith of Melbourne Beach, who held one of three tickets that split $1.5 billion, the biggest lottery jackpot of all time, in 2016. They received one-third of the $983.5 million cash option.
About the Florida Lottery
98 percent of the FL Lottery's revenue is invested in the state through prize payouts, retailer earnings, and support for education.
Since 1988, the Lottery has contributed over $37 billion towards education in the state - including the Bright Futures Scholarship Program, which has helped more than 840,000 students attend college - while Lottery players have won over $66.9 billion in prizes and more than 2,800 have become instant millionaires.
Next Powerball Jackpot: $75 Million
The next Powerball drawing for an estimated $75 million jackpot will be held on Wednesday, September 9, at 10:59 pm ET in the FL Lottery draw studio in Tallahassee. If you live outside the USA, you can play Powerball online for your chance to win.
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