Someone in Sunrise is a millionaire today
If you bought a Millionaire Raffle ticket in Sunrise, you might be really, really happy right now.
The Florida Lottery on Thursday conducted its Millionaire Raffle drawings, plucking out nine $1 million winners among the 2,034 cash prizes drawn. One of the tickets was sold at the Mr. Grocer in Sunrise, 11451 Oakland Park (I've been in there!).
Remember, this is a raffle, not a lottery. So you didn't pick your number. Picture a really big church fund-raiser. This one had the winning number of 0756691.
Besides the nine $1 million, there are 10 prizes of $50,000, 15 prizes of $5,000 and 2,000 prizes of $250.
You could argue the raffle offered the best odds of winning $1 million among all Lottery games currently on sale. The $20 tickets went on sale Nov. 13 through Dec. 30. Since not all of the 1 million tickets were sold, only 969,516 tickets were actually entered in the drawing. The bad news is they were $20 each.
(And don't feel bad for the Lottery; it was nowhere near what gamblers call an 'overlay.' The state gave out $10 million-plus in prize money but took in $19.3 million in ticket sales, sticking close to their usual 50-percent hold.)
The nine one-million-dollar-winning ticket numbers and the locations where the tickets were purchased are listed below. The winning ticket numbers will be on the Florida Lottery Web site after 3 p.m. today. I'll put them up at the bottom of this post for anyone who wants to get the jump on things before 3 p.m. (Maybe you're still at work, but plan to leave before 3, eh?)
Winning numbers for the $1 million prizes will also be available by phone at (850) 921-PLAY (7529).
Other winners were sold in Lakeland, Naples, Miami, Ocoee, Palm City, St. Petersburg Beach, Spring Hill and Hastings, the Lottery said.
Holiday Millionaire Raffle prizes must be claimed within 180 days from the draw date. Players must have their winning ticket or cash prize coupon in hand to claim a prize. The $250 prizes may be claimed at any Florida Lottery retailer and the $5,000 and $50,000 prizes may be claimed at any Florida Lottery district office. The $1 million prizes must be claimed at Lottery headquarters in Tallahassee. Information about filing a claim may be obtained by calling (850) 487-7707 or visiting www.flalottery.com.
Winning sites and numbers (I updated this because the Lottery first sent its release with numerals attached in front, that no way I'd have known the difference):
1. 0618058 Lakeland Publix 3636 Harden Boulevard
2. 0282296 Naples REM Petroleum, Inc.1410 N. Airport Road
3. 0104179 Miami Sunshine 11175 S.W. 40th Street
4. 0756691 Sunrise Mr. Grocer 11451 W. Oakland Park
5. 0326304 Ocoee Publix 1720 E. Silver Star Road
6. 0441260 Palm City Chevron 2950 S.W. Martin Downs Boulevard
7. 0174747 St. Petersburg Beach Publix 4655 Gulf Boulevard
8. 0200638Spring Hill 7-Eleven 14333 Spring Hill Drive
9. 0602285Hastings Kangaroo 8796 E. Church Street
NICK SORTAL began playing 3-card "gut" and "Indian poker" on high school band trips, moved on to "night baseball" and "pass the trash" during a Dr. Pepper-infused midnight game in the 1980s at the St. Louis Globe-Democrat, and now play in a regular neighborhood Hold 'Em game in Plantation. I have been given the assignment of writing about the gambling life in South Florida casinos for the Sun-Sentinel...which means sitting around watching poker on TV now counts as research.
