Staff Reports
That’s a lot of turkey.
The Florida Lottery this week announced that a Brandon man won the $500,000 top prize in the EXTRA PLAY Scratch-Off game.
Lennox Wilson, 51, claimed his prize last Friday at Lottery Headquarters in Tallahassee. He bought the winning ticket from a 7-Eleven on Fishhawk Boulevard in Lithia.
“The $5 game, EXTRA PLAY, offers more than $58 million in cash prizes, including eight top prizes of $500,000,” the Lottery’s press release said. “The game’s overall odds of winning are one-in-3.99.”
Scratch-off games are big sellers among the Lottery’s offerings, accounting for roughly “69 percent of ticket sales and generating more than $871 million for the Educational Enhancement Trust Fund (EETF) in 2017-18,” the Lottery said.
Lottery proceeds go into the EETF, which helps pay for public education.
Historically, money from the Lottery has accounted for about six percent of the state’s total education budget, “contributing more than $34 billion to education and sending more than 808,000 students to college through the Bright Futures Scholarship Program.”
Lottery funds are appropriated by the Legislature and are administered by the Florida Department of Education.
Alas, Wilson “declined the opportunity to take a photo,” the Lottery said.
