Two Win Big in Florida Powerball and Mega Millions

I've been playing the Florida Lottery Powerball and Mega Millions for years. I'm always hoping that one day, my lucky numbers will come through and I'll be the big winner from Fort Myers or Cape Coral. This past weekend it was someone else from Florida. It's time to meet the newest millionaire kids on the block. Move over, Scrooge McDuck, because these lucky individuals are giving you a run for your money. And by money, I mean lots and lots of it.

Thanks to the Powerball drawing on Saturday night, another Floridian has hit the jackpot. No, they didn't win the grand prize, but they still managed to snag a sweet $1 million by matching five of the winning numbers. Not too shabby, huh?

So, where did this lucky duck purchase their golden ticket, you ask? According to WFLA, they got it at Fresco y Mas in Hialeah. Now, if you're like me and you're thinking of rushing over there to buy a loaf of bread, let me tell you,  it won't increase your chances of winning. But hey, it's worth a shot, right?

And if you thought one million-dollar winner was impressive, just wait - there's more! Someone from Miami Lakes also won a million bucks in Friday's Mega Millions drawing. Are you starting to feel like you're living in the wrong state? Because I sure am.

But fear not, my friends, because there's still a chance for us to hit it big. The next Powerball drawing is on Monday night, and the estimated jackpot is a jaw-dropping $135 million. That's right, you could potentially become a multimillionaire overnight. Just make sure you don't forget about your favorite friendly neighborhood Budman when you're basking in your newfound wealth, okay?

I love reporting on big wins when people hit jackpots on Florida Lottery scratch off tickets. I want that to be me! So when I was at Publix in Fort Myers last night I went to the Florida Lottery machine and fed it 20 bucks. Hey, if you want to win 5 million you got to bet big.  I pressed the button with the most eye catching 20 dollar ticket and took it home. Guess what? I didn't win. And I found out later that I probably wouldn't. You see, the Florida Lottery tracks all of the winning tickets on their website and of the 8  - 5 million dollar winning tickets, 7 of them were already gone. I should have gone with a different ticket to have better odds.

Unfortunately for us, buying scratchers can be a bit of an impulse buy. “I like this one”. But you should really treat it as a financial decision. It is money we’re trying to win. Please keep in mind I’m not telling you which tickets you should play, or if you should play at all. You do you. Just because a ticket only has one big winner left doesn’t mean it’s not sitting in a counter at a gas station in Lehigh. The fact is, we don’t know. This is just math.

There's two $25 million dollar grand prize tickets. A guy in Bonita Springs claimed one of them, so there's still one out there. Of the 160 $1 million dollar prizes, only 19 remain. Two of those winners were announced this past week.

So with the help of the Florida Lottery website, let’s discuss which scratch off tickets you might want to avoid if you’re looking to hit it big. What fun is it to play if you can't win big? Also, we’ll take a look at which scratch off games have the most big winners left in the pot. You want to win big and get that Lambo? Let’s do this.

This list is from 5/3/2023. As more winners happen, and more games are announced, this data will become outdated. Here's the November 2023 list of Florida Lottery Scratch Off Tickets.

Also, we’ll take a look at which scratch off games have the most big winners left.

It's a $5 ticket where you could win $500,000. But you won't. All of those are gone.

You may wanna pass on this $2 ticket. All 12 of the big winning tickets are gone.

This $30 ticket gave 4 grand prize winners $15 million. Gave. As in all those are gone.

This $5 ticket could score you a million. But it won't. All of those tickets are gone.

A $5 ticket with one $500,000 prize remaining.

I'm on the fence on this one. A lot of the big winning tickets are gone, but several of them were here in Southwest Florida. GEORGE  DEMETRIADES of Bonita Springs won $25 million, and one of those big ones are still out there. There's only 19 of the 160 $1 million dollar prizes, but we've seen those hit in North Fort Myers, Marco Island, and Naples. It's a $50 ticket so it's a tough decision. Here's the data I'm looking at. 

A $2 ticket. Only 1 of the 12 big winners are left.

7 of the 8 $100,000 winning tickets are gone.

A $5 ticket with a $500,000 grand prize. 7 of the 8 of these are gone, too.

Not likely. This $2 ticket could get you $50,000. But 15 of the 16 big winners are already gone.

I love the idea of the guaranteed salary, but with this $2 ticket, 7 of the 8 'Life' winners are gone.

The $1 little brother. Only 1 big winner is left out there.

$3 could get you $100,000. 11 of the 12 big ones are gone.

A $2 card with a $50,000 grand prize. 9 of the 10 are gone.

This $20 ticket has eight 5 million dollar winners. 7 have already been claimed. UPDATE (5/9/23). Looks like the final big prize has been claimed.

This is the part I've been waiting for.........

A $10 card with a 2 million dollar grand prize. 8 of 8 big winners are out there.

This $5 card could get you a million. Only 1 of the 4 million dollar tickets are claimed.

$10 card, one million is the grand prize. 3 of 4 remain.

A $30 card with a lot of big winners. grand prize is 15 million with 3 of 4 remaining. Secondary prize of 1 million with 16 of the 24 of those still out there.

I haven't seen this one. This card just came out on February 27th. The ticket is $50 and two winners get a million a year for life. Both of those are still out there. 234 one million dollar winners and 206 of those still out there. Have a look if you're interested.

Here's the big list of all the current tickets.

Have fun, but play responsibly. I did this list for my own benefit, but it was something I wanted to share. The idea of buying a ticket with no way of winning the grand prize just seemed like such a downer. So I did the math. Good luck to all.

UPDATE: I redid this list as of October 4, 2023. You'll find that here. 

This one really does look interesting.......