One might call it the best $5 Carole Deschaine ever spent.
That because the 72-year-old Water Oak resident claimed a $1 million prize this week after purchasing a $5 scratch-off ticket at RaceTrac in Lady Lake. Deschaine choose to receive her winnings as a one-time lump sum payment of $770,000.
The RaceTrac gas station and mini mart, located at 324 North U.S. Hwy. 27/441, will receive a $2,000 bonus commission for selling the winning scratch-off ticket, which was part of the Florida 20X The Cash game.
That $5 game, launched Jan. 15, features 14 top prizes of $1 million and more than $110 million in cash prizes. The game’s overall odds of winning are 1-in-4.22.
Scratch-off tickets generated more than $784 million for the Educational Enhancement Trust Fund in fiscal year 2016-17 and comprise approximately 68 percent of ticket sales, according to Florida Lottery officials.
Overall, the Florida Lottery has contributed more than $33 billion to education and sent more than 775,000 students to college through the Bright Futures Scholarship Program.
The lottery reinvests 98 percent of its revenue back into Florida’s economy through prize payouts, commissions to more than 13,000 Florida retailers and contributions to education.
Since 1988, Florida Lottery games have paid more than $56.3 billion in prizes and made more than 2,000 people millionaires, lottery officials say.
For more information about the Florida Lottery, visit www.flalottery.com.
