Unclaimed $52K Fantasy Five Lottery Ticket Sold in Fort Myers

Could you be sitting on a pile of Fantasy Five money? A lucky person in Florida might just be after someone bought a winning ticket in Fort Myers. Can you imagine? The winning ticket could be anywhere. I can't help but think about that center console in my car. There are all kinds of random papers stuck in there.

According to WPLG, the Florida Lottery has put out a call out Because a Fantasy Five ticket worth over $52,000 is waiting to be claimed. The winning numbers for this jackpot, were 7, 10, 18, 24, and 35. That's the magic combination you need to get a nice chunk of change.

The ticket picked up from a Publix store in Fort Myers could be yours. But don't worry. You don't have to drive over there just to check yours because any Florida Lottery retailer can double-check if you think you're holding the winning ticket. However, to claim that big top prize, you'll need to make a pit stop at a Florida Lottery District Office. You're not going to be able to cash out at a Publix check-out line for this one.

But time is ticking! The big win will expire on September 12 at the stroke of midnight! So, it's time to get rifling through your junk drawers, look inside that beat-up old wallet, and make sure you're wasting away a small fortune.

Now if you're like me, you didn't get all five numbers. Well, Fantasy 5 isn't just about the grand jackpot, though. Even if you didn't hit the jackpot, matching two, three, or four numbers can still land you some cash or even another shot at glory with a free Quick Pick ticket for another chance at winning big.

You know what they say? You can't win if you don't play.

It's the week of St. Patrick's here in Southwest Florida, and while many dream of green beer and Irish food, my thoughts are elsewhere. I'm trying to tap into the "Luck of The Irish" and win something. So, it's off to the research and where I can get the best odds. Sure, Powerball and Mega Millions jackpots are climbing once again, but the odds of winning are pretty slim. So let's turn to scratch offs, and this time with a twist. Let's dive into the luckiest Florida Lottery tickets. The one's with the best chance of winning, And just to make it more interesting, let's look at the top 13. 13 is lucky, right?

EDIT:  This list was made last spring. You'll find the July update here.

In previous articles, I've focused on which tickets have the most big winners left, or which tickets have no big winners left. All very useful information, but still difficult to win. This time, let's just look at which tickets have the best chance of paying off. Whether it's $10 or $10 million dollars, a win is a win. And that's what we're trying to do here  - just get a win. These Florida Lottery tickets have the best overall odds of winning,

The Florida Lottery website posts a lot of data, which takes a lot of time to sift through. Fortunately, this is where my day job intersects with my after work hobby. I used work hours to sift through the data to find what I'm looking for. And as long as I share it with all of you, I'm just doing my job. Nice, right?

So let's take a look at which tickets have a better chance of putting a little green in your pocket this St. Patrick's Day. And if your superstition tells you to shy away from the number 13, don't worry. I'll let you know when you hit number 7 so you can look away. Taylor Swift considers 13 to be her lucky number, and no one is winning at life like Taylor, so that's where I'm going.

This one? Yep, if you want the best odds of any Florida Lottery ticket, reach for the $20 GRL. The overall odds of winning something on this ticket is 1:2.65. This game has been out quite awhile, since September 20th of 2021, so I'm sure you've seen it before. But have you played it? There are still 5 million and 1 million dollar grand prizes still available, and apparently available here in Southwest Florida. Someone scored a 5 million dollar winning ticket earlier this month from a 7-11 in Cape Coral. If you play the odds, this is the luckiest Florida Lottery ticket currently available.

Another $20 ticket on the list, the second luckiest Florida Lottery ticket was a favorite among gift givers this past holiday season. Released on September 18th of 2023, the $5,000,000 TRIPLE MATCH ticket has overall odds of winning at 1:2.85. The game has just under half of it's big winners remaining ands here's a fun tidbit. Someone won a million late last year with a ticket bought at a Circle K in Cape Coral.  1:2.85 1:2.85 1:2.85

Number 3 on the lucky list and look at that. Another $20 ticket. The odds of getting enough words on the card to have a winner are 1:2.9. I never play the crossword tickets, I'm afraid of messing up and missing something. But if you do play them, this is the crossword scratch off with the best odds. 2 people have claimed 5 million dollar prizes, but 2 more remain.

This ticket is being phased out in April of 2024, as most of the big winners are gone. Sure, the ticket has the fourth best odds at 1:2.91, but there's also no 5 million, and only one 1 million dollar prize left to be claimed. Even all the $100,000 prizes are gone. If you're going the crossword route, my advice is to go with the other one.

At number 5 on the luckiest list is the $30 version of the "Florida X The Cash" series. This has the best odds of winning in the series with a 1:2.93 overall odds of winning. Maybe it's the odd $30 price on this that makes this card often overlooked. Despite the game being over a year old, 3 of the 4 $15 million dollar tickets are still out there. The one big winner was just north of Clearwater. Here's another interesting anomaly, you have a greater chance of winning $50, then you do $30.

This game is getting a little thin on the prizes, but there's still some available, making it worth the play. With overall odds of 1:3.02, this is the 6th luckiest on our list. The last $5 million dollar prize was claimed as of yesterday in Tampa, but the rest of the prize values still remain. Monopoly has always been a big seller on the scratch offs, but if you're looking at which one - this one has the best odds of winning.

We finally see a $10 card on the list, with some decent odds at winning. Overall odds on this card are 1:3.12. Now the bad news. This ticket is at the end of it's run and most of the big winners are gone. If you still want to play it, do it soon, this card should be disappearing from the counter in April. STOP. This was the 7th card on the list. I told you I'd give you a heads up. Still in? Let's continue.

Our 8th luckiest ticket on the list is another $10 one, but unlike the previous, this has some big winners left. Overall odds of winning are 1:3.31 and a million dollar winner is possible. But there's a real head scratcher in the data. Between 6/14/2022 to 3/8/2023, there was 7 one million dollar winning tickets claimed. There haven't been any since. A year, really? Either people are sitting on those winning tickets, or this card isn't getting enough love.

Another $10 ticket comes in at 9th on the list. With overall odds of 1:3.32, it's a fun card to play. Unfortunately, this one came out at Christmastime in 2022 and has been picked pretty clean. You can still win a million, but you'd be the last to do so. I like this ticket, but it's definitely nearing the end of it's run.

In the very popular series, it's the $10 one that has the best overall odds at 1:3.33. The idea of a yearly check for life seems very appealing, but the data shows us something different. Of the 3 grand prize tickets that have been cashed, all three individuals have chosen the cash option of $4,070,000.00. It's a nice prize, but my idiot self would probably tear through the 4 mil. My plan was always to take the yearly checks and live a comfortable life.

Here's the newer one of the $10 crossword tickets. This one just came out for the holidays of 2023, so there's a lot more big winners left. And the overall odds of winning at 1:3.37 is not too shabby. Again with the crosswords, though. I'm just not patient enough to play these. Ha.

There's a lot of different "X The Cash" games, but it's this one that comes in 12th on our list. The overall odds of winning something is 1:3.43 and half of the $2 million dollar prizes remain. Maybe this ticket has been lost in the shuffle of late, there hasn't been a 2 million dollar ticket claimed since last June. The odds of winning on this $10 ticket aren't quite as good as the ones on the $30 version, but it's still good enough to make our list.

Similar name, different ticket. Number 13 on our luckiest list goes to this one with overall odds of winning at 1:3.44. Being last on the list, this ticket comes full circle on our Southwest Florida theme as the last grand prize winning ticket was purchased in - Cape Coral. Now, this ticket is over 2 years old an most of the big winners are already gone. But there's still a little life in this one if you want to give it a try.

So there they are. The 13 luckiest tickets, based on your overall chances of winning something. Good luck everyone.

I just recompiled the numbers (5/9/24) and have narrowed this list down to 3, just in time for Mother's Day. Check out: