Lottery: 77-year-old Pines woman wins half of $7 million jackpot
A 77-year-old Pembroke Pines winner claimed her share of a $7 million Florida Lotto jackpot, the Florida Lottery announced today.
Joyce Levitt was one of two winners in the Jan. 2 drawing. The other winning ticket, which has been claimed, was purchased in Okeechobee.
She's part of a trend: a 76-year-old Sunrise man claimed a $1 million ticket last week.
Levitt chose the one-time, lump-sum payment for her winnings of $2,052,472.33. She bought her ticket at Publix, located at 170 S. Flamingo Road in Pembroke Pines. The retailer received a bonus incentive of $10,000.
Based on our clips, she seems like a nice lady. An article last year quoted her as being a member of a singing group that performs at clubs, retirement homes and special events.
On performance days, the group loads into about nine cars and caravans to the venue for a 45-minute gig. Member Joyce Levitt said, "We bring joy wherever we go."
The winning numbers were 15 - 19 - 28 - 29 - 38 - 51 and the XTRA multiplier was 3.
She is the 77th Florida Lotto jackpot winner from Broward County. To date, there have been more than 940 Florida Lotto jackpot winners statewide since 1988.
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.
