47-year-old Mario Torres, from Boynton Beach, has struck gold, and by gold, I mean a cool $1 million from the Florida Lottery's $20 GOLD RUSH LIMITED Scratch-Off game. Sure it would be nice if It were YOU but for now we have to live through our friend Mario.
According to WFLA, Mario Torres, who clearly knows how to pick the winning ticket, made the trip to Lottery Headquarters in Tallahassee to claim his freshly scratched fortune. Mario also likes things all at once. He chose the lump-sum payment of $795,000.00. It's kinda like winning the lottery, and then winning it again. You know, when you get to pocket a whole bunch of cash at once. Cha-ching! That's got to feel pretty darn good.
If you were wondering where Mario purchased his winning ticket, then you're about as curious as I am. Just head over to Kenny's Mart in Boynton Beach. Maybe lightning strikes twice? Either way, Kenny's Mart will be rolling in the bonus commission. They get a sweet $2,000 for being the lucky supplier of Torres' winning Scratch-Off. Wow. That might make you wanna pick up an extra shift at a convenience store.
The GOLD RUSH LIMITED game, launched in September 2021, It has 32 top prizes of $5 million and 100 prizes of $1 million. With over 33,000 prizes ranging from $1,000 to $100,000, it's safe to say this game is making a lot of Floridians very happy.
The next time you're eyeing those scratch cards at the gas station, remember Mario Torres in Boynton Beach.
The guy who turned a $20 bill into a cool million bucks! Talk about a return on investment!
Only 3 Florida Lottery Scratch Off Tickets Have ALL Of Its Grand Prize Winners Remaining
I love playing Florida Lottery scratch off tickets. But I also want to win. And the best way to win (I hope) is to do a little research. Did you know that some of the tickets at the counter have all of their top prizes already gone? It's true, and they don't tell you. I mean, I'll tell you, with this link right here. But if you're impulse buying at the Publix in Fort Myers, you really don't know. Also, you really don't know which tickets are completely fresh, meaning, which tickets have never had a grand prize claimed. But I know, and I'll tell you.
The Florida Lottery has a website that tracks all their current tickets. You can see the odds, the prizes, and more importantly - how many of those prizes are available. You can also sift through the data and find out who won on what ticket and where they bough it. Take for instance the 500X The Cash Game. It had a $25 million dollar top prize. A guy in Bonita Springs bought one of those winning tickets at a Circle K on Bonita Beach Road. The other went to a guy in Riverview, Florida and he got his ticket at Publix.
It's with that data, I found that there's only 3 Florida Lottery scratch off tickets that no one has claimed a grand prize - yet. Does this mean these tickets are due? Maybe it means that these tickets aren't as popular? Does it mean that someone has a winning ticket and for some reason hasn't turned it in yet? I really don't know. But one of these tickets has to hit big eventually, and I want it to be from me.
$50,000 TRIPLE MATCH
I don't usually play the $2 tickets, but they are great as Christmas gifts. There are 6 $50,000 winning tickets out there somewhere. Your odds of finding one is 1-in-3,025,450. The odds of being bit by an alligator in Florida is 1 in 3.2 million. So your odds of winning with this ticket is better than being bit by an alligator while living in Florida.
$5MM TRIPLE MATCH
Here's the $20 version of that other ticket. Eight people will be lucky enough to find a $5 million dollar winning ticket while playing this game. Unfortunately, the odds of that are 1-in-3,774,705. So I'd steer clear of alligators.
$1M YR/LIFE SPEC
This one is absolutely nuts. This $50 ticket was launched on February 27, 2023 and no one has claimed a grand prize yet. $1 million dollars a year for life. You could actually afford to buy a house in Florida with that kind of money. What are the odds? There's only 2 of the grand prize tickets out there, and the odds that you'll find one is 1-in-21,727,995. Those odds seem daunting, but the odds of winning Powerball are 1 in 292 million. So by comparison. It's better. But I'd really steer clear of alligators.
Is that all?
Yeah, as of November 15th, 2023 that's the only 3 that fit the criteria. Another thing you may want to know is that many of those tickets at the counter have no big winner left. I put that list right here.
Good luck all. And play responsibly. Scratch off tickets should be fun.
