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Valrico Woman Claims $4.00 Million Lotto Jackpot

NR 09-27-02 ... On Friday, Sep 27, a woman from Valrico claimed the $4.00 million Lotto jackpot from the Sep 21 drawing at Lottery Headquarters in Tallahassee. Agnes Galando opted to collect her award in form of a single cash payment of $2,233,861 before federal withholding taxes, instead of receiving 30 annual installments of approximately $148,924 each.

Agnes bought her lucky Quick Pick ticket at Books Plus, located at 485 West Brandon Boulevard in Brandon. The store has received a $10,000 retailer bonus for selling the jackpot winning ticket.

Agnes is the 55^th Florida Lotto winner with a ticket purchased in Hillsborough County, the 3^rd winner with a ticket from the city of Brandon, and the 738^th overall winner since the game began in 1988.

Fort Myers Man Claims 1/7 Share Of $87.81 Million Lotto Jackpot

NR 09-23-02 ... On Monday, Sep 23, a man from Fort Myers claimed his 1/7 share of the $87.81 million Lotto jackpot from the Sep 7 drawing at Lottery Headquarters in Tallahassee. Nicholas S. Paulus chose to collect his award in form of a single cash payment of $6,852,931 before federal withholding taxes, instead of receiving 30 annual installments of approximately $418,142 each.

Nicholas was the seventh - and thereby final - of seven joint winners of Lotto's third highest ever jackpot to redeem his prize. The other six winners - from Hallandale, Indialantic, Orlando, Dunnellon, Jacksonville and Winter Haven, respectively [see stories below] - claimed their prizes during the last two weeks.

Nicholas used his personal numbers to pick the winning combination [10 – 16 - 22 - 29 - 36 – 41]. He purchased his lucky ticket at the Hess Express store, located at 15260 McGregor Boulevard in Fort Myers. The Hess Corporation has received a $1,429 retailer bonus [= 1/7 of $10,000] for selling one of the seven jackpot winning tickets.

Nicholas is the 23^rd Florida Lotto winner with a ticket purchased in Lee County, the 7^th winner with a ticket from the city of Fort Myers, and the 736^th overall winner since the game began in 1988.

NR 09-21-02 ...  Autumnal Equinox ... The northern hemispheric autumn begins on Monday, Sep 23, at precisely 00:48 am ET. At that moment, the sun crosses the celestial equator on its move southward to the Tropic of Capricorn [-23°27' declination], which it will reach on Dec 21. Since the sun has a declination of 0 degrees on Sep 23, the night and day will be of the same length worldwide. Enjoy the season !!!

Winter Haven Woman Claims 1/7 Share Of $87.81 Million Lotto Jackpot

NR 09-19-02 ... On Wednesday, Sep 18, a woman from Winter Haven claimed her 1/7 share of the $87.81 million Lotto jackpot from the Sep 7 drawing at Lottery Headquarters in Tallahassee. Elida Garza (40) opted to collect her award in form of a single cash payment of $6,852,931 before federal withholding taxes, instead of receiving 30 annual installments of approximately $418,142 each.

Elida traveled to the state's capital accompanied by six family members, and was the sixth of seven joint winners of Lotto's third highest ever jackpot to redeem her prize. Winners from Hallandale, Indialantic, Orlando, Dunnellon and Jacksonville [see stories below] claimed their prizes last week. The seventh winning ticket is from Fort Myers and has not been redeemed yet.

"Well, I bought the ticket on Saturday [Sep 7] and I didn't find out I had won until Monday [Sep 9] when I got the newspaper," Elida said. "I couldn't believe it - I still can't believe it!"

Elida has been buying five Lotto tickets every Saturday for many years. However, this is the first time she has won "anything," she indicated. Elida selected her winning numbers at random [10 – 16 - 22 - 29 - 36 – 41].

Elida purchased her lucky ticket at the Kash N' Karry, located at 369 Cypress Gardens in Winter Haven. The store will receive a $1,429 retailer bonus [= 1/7 of $10,000] for selling one of the seven jackpot winning tickets.

"I couldn't believe it!" Elida expressed. "I just cried!" She first gave the good news to her sister, who also found it hard to believe.

Elida initially kept her winning ticket under her pillow, but then put it in a bank safe deposit box for safekeeping.

"I'm going to help my family," Elida stated in regards to what she planned to do with her prize. She also wants to build a house for herself.

Elida is the 24^th Florida Lotto winner with a ticket purchased in Polk County, the 7^th winner with a ticket from the city of Winter Haven, and the 735^th overall winner since the game began in 1988.

Naples Man Claims $18.00 Million Lotto Jackpot

NR 09-18-02 ... On Monday, Sep 16, a man from Naples claimed the $18.00 million Lotto jackpot from the Jul 31 drawing at Lottery Headquarters in Tallahassee. Ronald T. Berger, Sr. (70) chose to collect his award in form of a single cash payment of $9,984,830 before federal withholding taxes, instead of receiving 30 annual installments of approximately $600,000 each.

Mr. Berger bought his lucky Quick Pick ticket at the 7-Eleven store, located at 2135 Tamiami Trail East in Naples. The 7-Eleven Corporation has received a $10,000 retailer bonus for selling the jackpot winning ticket.

Mr. Berger is the 6^th Florida Lotto winner with a ticket purchased in Collier County, the 6^th winner with a ticket from the city of Naples, and the 729^th overall winner since the game began in 1988.

NR 09-18-02 ... A $35,693 Mega Money winning ticket from Middleburg is the first ever from Clay County, which thus becomes the 36^th Florida county [out of 67] to report a Mega Money jackpot winner.

Jacksonville Man Claims 1/7 Share Of $87.81 Million Lotto Jackpot

NR 09-15-02 ... On Friday, Sep 13, a man from Jacksonville claimed his 1/7 share of the $87.81 million Lotto jackpot from the Sep 7 drawing at Lottery Headquarters in Tallahassee. James H. "Jimmy" Mills (59) opted to collect his award in form of a single cash payment of $6,852,931 before federal withholding taxes, instead of receiving 30 annual installments of approximately $418,142 each.

Jimmy traveled to the state's capital accompanied by his wife Marta (59), and was the fifth of seven joint winners of Lotto's third highest ever jackpot to redeem his prize. Winners from Hallandale, Indialantic, Orlando and Dunnellon [see stories below] had claimed their prizes earlier during the week.

"I played the Lotto for the first time last Wednesday night [Sep 4] and won $5.00 from one of my tickets," said Jimmy, who works for Automatic Blinds, Inc. of Jacksonville. "After I won, I took my $5.00 and bought five more tickets for the next drawing on Saturday [Sep 7]. That was the second time I had ever played Lotto, and I won!"

Jimmy, who is hearing-impaired, indicated that he and his wife saw the Lotto draw of Sep 7 live on TV. When they realized they had all six of the winning numbers, they just felt "happy."

"I just picked the numbers out of the air," Jimmy stated. "I really didn't have any reason why I chose them. After we won, we kept the ticket on a refrigerator behind a big magnet."

Jimmy purchased his lucky ticket at the Winn-Dixie Supermarket, located at 8775 Old Kings Road in Jacksonville. The Winn-Dixie Corporation will receive a $1,429 retailer bonus [= 1/7 of $10,000] for selling one of the seven jackpot winning tickets.

The Mills mentioned that they plan to use some of their proceeds to buy a new car, a new computer, perhaps a new home, and take a vacation. Both Jimmy and Martha also plan to quit their jobs, but haven't told their bosses yet.

Jimmy is the 28^th Florida Lotto winner with a ticket purchased in Duval County, the 26^th winner with a ticket from the city of Jacksonville, and the 734^th overall winner since the game began in 1988.

Dunnellon Golfers Claim 1/7 Share Of $87.81 Million Lotto Jackpot

NR 09-15-02 ... On Friday, Sep 13, a group of ten retired recreational golfers claimed their 1/7 share of the $87.81 million Lotto jackpot from the Sep 7 drawing at Lottery Headquarters in Tallahassee. The winners are all retirees from other states who now live in Dunnellon, and are all between the ages of 62 and 79. They arrived in Tallahassee in a charted bus together with their wives.

The party of golfers were the fourth of seven joint winners of Lotto's third highest ever jackpot to redeem their prize. Winners from Hallandale, Indialantic and Orlando [see stories below] had claimed their prizes earlier during the week.

The retirees claimed their jackpot share under the name of "Rainbow Hackers Trust", which refers to the Rainbow Springs Golf and Country Club in Dunnellon where they play golf every Monday and Wednesday.

They chose to collect their award in form of a single cash payment of $6,852,931 before federal withholding taxes, instead of receiving 30 annual installments of approximately $418,142 each. They said their ages prompted them to opt for the lump-sum payment.

The Rainbow Hackers Trust members are: Charles Bernhard, Edward Duggins, Charles Eberlin, James Hicklin, Robert Petkanics, Dennis Phillipps, George Radin, Edwin Richfield, James Schulz and Richard Williams.

"I woke up and turned on the computer Sunday morning [Sep 8] and when I saw the numbers, I thought I was going to pass out," said group ticket-holder and organizer Dennis Phillipps. "I told my wife, but neither of us could believe it. I was so excited I went two days on five hours of sleep."

Ed Richfield, an engineer before retirement, revealed that he had selected the winning numbers some years ago based on the frequency of their previous appearances. The group has played these numbers for about the last four years.

Dennis commented that the party was a close-knit group of golfers who regularly meet and play at the Rainbow Springs golf course, and that participation in the lottery pool is on a first-come basis. Ten people contributed $2.00 each to buy twenty tickets for the Wednesday [Sep 4] draw and again for the Saturday [Sep 7] draw.

Dennis purchased their lucky ticket at the Sprint Food Store, located at 3873 SW College Road in Ocala. The shop will receive a $1,429 retailer bonus [= 1/7 of $10,000] for selling one of the seven jackpot winning tickets.

"I got the call from Dennis early, but it was a good way to wake up," observed James Schulz. "I thought he was kidding, but he said, 'We really hit it!'"

"It was the luck of the draw," expressed first-time group member Charles Bernhard. "It was just luck who was in the group on any particular day. This was the first time I got a ticket!"

George Radin conveyed that there is "a little sensitivity about that, but we don't want to talk about that now."

George added that he wants to buy a golf cart with some of his winnings, and Ed Duggins said he was going to replace his 31-year-old golf clubs. A further group member spoke of taking a cruise, but none of the others mentioned any special plans for the money.

The golfers are the 11^th Florida Lotto winners with a ticket purchased in Marion County, the 7^th winners with a ticket from the city of Ocala, and the 733^rd overall winners since the game began in 1988.

Orlando Man Claims 1/7 Share Of $87.81 Million Lotto Jackpot

NR 09-13-02 ... On Friday, Sep 13 – just one day after his 40^th birthday - a man from Orlando claimed his 1/7 share of the $87.81 million Lotto jackpot from the Sep 7 drawing at Lottery Headquarters in Tallahassee. Steven S. Bolcar (40) chose to collect his award in form of a single cash payment of $6,852,931 before federal withholding taxes, instead of receiving 30 annual installments of approximately $418,142 each.

Steven traveled to the state's capital accompanied by his wife Ellen, and was the third of seven joint winners of Lotto's third highest ever jackpot to redeem his prize. The first two winners to claim their prizes were Michel Potvin from Hallandale and Rick & Sandy Bertel from Indialantic [see stories below], both of whom arrived in Tallahassee on Wednesday, Sep 11.

"I start playing Lotto when the jackpot gets above $10 million, so I had been playing for quite a few draws with a lot of tickets and I was almost ready to give up," said Steven. "I kept using my same combinations of birthdays and anniversaries to choose my numbers ... and I'm glad I decided to play for one more drawing!" The winning combination Steven picked was [10 – 16 - 22 - 29 - 36 – 41].

"I found out I won the Lotto when I saw the winning numbers on the Lottery's web site on Sunday morning [Sep 8]," Steven recalled. "And then we went to church, but I didn't tell anyone about it."

"I heard lots of screaming from Steven in the other room and didn't know what was going on," his wife Ellen commented. "When he told me we had just won the Lotto, I was a little shocked. After we calmed down, we just went to church as normal, but didn't tell a soul."

Later on, Steven and Ellen met with their personal banker from Bank of America, who also accompanied them on their trip to Tallahassee. Steven, who is a self-employed businessman and plans to keep working at his job, mentioned that he kept the winning ticket on him at all times.

Steven purchased his lucky ticket at the 7-Eleven store, located at 15001 West Colonial Drive in Winter Garden [near Orlando]. The 7-Eleven Corporation will receive a $1,429 retailer bonus [= 1/7 of $10,000] for selling one of the seven jackpot winning tickets.

"We plan to use some of our winnings to build our dream house and maybe do some traveling around the country," the Bolcars indicated. "When we leave here, we're going to Disney World for a short vacation and then we'll both return to our jobs as normal. We also plan to keep playing Florida Lottery games."

Steven is the 23^rd Florida Lotto winner with a ticket purchased in Orange County, the 2^nd winner with a ticket from the city of Winter Garden, and the 732^nd overall winner since the game began in 1988.

Roll, Roll, Roll: Review Of A Record Rollover Series

NR 09-12-02 ... Lotto's recent record 11-draw* rollover series produced the following interesting results:
[* 10 rollovers + the final draw = 11 draws]

13 repetitions in 5 draws with 1 repeated number and 4 draws with 2 repeated numbers [shown in red].
As 9 out of 11 draws featured a repeated number, the repetition ratio for this rollover series was 81.82%.
This 81.82% ratio compares to a historical average repetition ratio of 54.44% for Lotto [as of 09-12-02].

4 pairs of adjacent numbers [shown in gray].
As 4 out of 11 draws featured adjacent numbers, the adjacent number ratio for this rollover series was 36.37%.
This 36.37% ratio compares to an historical average adjacent number ratio of 48.89% for Lotto [as of 09-12-02].

6 numbers appeared more than 2 times:
N 28 → 4 times [Draws 890 / 891 / 892 / 894]
N 36 → 4 times [Draws 889 / 891 / 893 / 899]
N 22 → 3 times [Draws 897 / 898 / 899]
N 32 → 3 times [Draws 894 / 895 / 898]
N 40 → 3 times [Draws 890 / 897 / 898]
N 46 → 3 times [Draws 890 / 896 / 897]

14 numbers did not appear at all [1 / 3 / 7 / 14 / 19 / 23 / 24 / 26 / 37 / 44 / 47 / 49 / 52 / 53].

More than 151 million Lotto tickets were sold between Aug 1 and Sep 7.

Total payouts amounted to $114,750,481 for altogether 2,206,793 winners.

Total contributions for Florida's education reached $57 million.

RECORD 11-DRAW* LOTTO ROLLOVER SERIES

Indialantic Couple Claims 1/7 Share Of $87.81 Million Lotto Jackpot

NR 09-12-02 ... On Wednesday, Sep 11, a couple from Indialantic claimed their 1/7 share of the $87.81 million Lotto jackpot from the Sep 7 drawing at Lottery Headquarters in Tallahassee. Rick and Sandy Bertel opted to collect their award in form of a single cash payment of $6,852,931 before federal withholding taxes, instead of receiving 30 annual installments of approximately $418,142 each.

The Bertels arrived in the state's capital in a stretch-limousine and were the second of seven joint winners of Lotto's third highest ever jackpot to redeem their prize. The first winner to do so was Michel Potvin from Hallandale [see story below], who also claimed his prize on Sep 11.

Rick has been playing Lotto once a week for many years, but could have easily missed this opportunity to play for an unusually large jackpot. Only a couple of hours before the Saturday evening [Sep 7] drawing did he buy his winning ticket.

"There were so many things that could have kept me from playing that night," Rick said. "I had lots of things I had to do."

Eventually though, it was Rick's desire to play Lotto for his mother – with her usual set of numbers – that prompted him to go to the store and try his own numbers as well.

"I just thought about the numbers as I stood there," he observed. "I guess you could say they were at random." The winning combination Rick picked was [10 – 16 - 22 - 29 - 36 – 41].

Rick purchased his lucky ticket at the 7-Eleven, located at 448 Fifth Avenue in Indialantic. The store will receive a $1,429 retailer bonus [= 1/7 of $10,000] for selling one of the seven jackpot winning tickets.

Rick indicated that he didn't check his numbers until late Monday night [Sep 9], when he was lying in bed reading through a day-old newspaper.

"I think I said something like, 'Honey, I think we won the Lotto,'" he recalled. "I was calm on the outside, but not on the inside! I was as excited as my wife, who was jumping up and down and crying!"

Rick stated that, because his wallet had recently fallen apart, initially he had simply kept his Lotto ticket in his pocket together with papers and other things. That was before knowing that it was a winner. After finding out, however, he put it in another pocket all by itself.

"But then we kept checking that the ticket was still there every time we did anything," Sandy remarked. "So after that we got a safe deposit box and put it there."

Rick is a real estate broker and mentioned that he plans to keep working because he loves his job. The couple revealed that they expect to add a pool to their house and take a cruise with some of their proceeds.

The Bertels are the 25^th Florida Lotto winners with a ticket purchased in Brevard County, the 2^nd winners with a ticket from the city of Indialantic, and the 731^st overall winners since the game began in 1988.

Hallandale Man Claims 1/7 Share Of $87.81 Million Lotto Jackpot

NR 09-12-02 ... On Wednesday, Sep 11, a man from Hallandale claimed his 1/7 share of the $87.81 million Lotto jackpot from the Sep 7 drawing at Lottery Headquarters in Tallahassee. Michel Potvin chose to collect his award in form of a single cash payment of $6,852,931 before federal withholding taxes, instead of receiving 30 annual installments of approximately $418,142 each.

Michel was the first of seven joint winners of Lotto's third highest ever jackpot to redeem his prize. Another winner - from Indialantic [see story above] - also claimed his prize on Sep 11.

Michel used his personal numbers to pick the winning combination [10 – 16 - 22 - 29 - 36 – 41]. He purchased his lucky ticket at the Subco Amoco station, located at 3151 West Hallandale Beach Boulevard in Pembroke Park. The store will receive a $1,429 retailer bonus [= 1/7 of $10,000] for selling one of the seven jackpot winning tickets.

Michel is the 61^st Florida Lotto winner with a ticket purchased in Broward County, the first winner with a ticket from the city of Pembroke Park, and the 730^th overall winner since the game began in 1988.

NR 09-12-02 ... Babson Park is the 219^th Florida location to register a Fantasy 5 jackpot winner.

NR 09-11-02 ... One player with Holiday ticket wins $481,171 Mega Money jackpot on Sep 10 !!! This is the highest Mega Money payout registered in Pasco County.

NR 09-11-02 ... One player with Miami ticket wins $204,680 Fantasy 5 jackpot on Sep 10 !!!

This is the 200^th Fantasy 5 jackpot winning ticket from Miami-Dade County. Locations in MD reporting winners are: Carol City [1], Florida City [1], Hialeah [37], Homestead [4], Miami [130], Miami Beach [8], Miami Shores [1], Miami Springs [2], North Miami [7], North Miami Beach [3], Opa-Locka [4], Pinecrest [1] and Princeton [1].

Total Fantasy 5 jackpot ticket payouts in Miami-Dade County now amount to $16.93 million. [Ave = $84,640].
 

NR 09-10-02 ... Baker is the 218^th Florida location to register a Fantasy 5 jackpot winner.
 

NR 09-09-02 ... Seven joint Lotto jackpot winners on 09-07-02 is the highest number since 05-22-99, when also 7 winners shared a $66.00 million top prize. Altogether, there have been 3 Lotto draws with 7 joint winners now. Note that 2 of those draws [1999 + 2002] did not feature any Quick Picks at all among their combined 14 winners.

The record number of joint Lotto jackpot winners is 9 - achieved on 3 occasions [1989 / 1991 / 1993].
 

NR 09-09-02 ... Six of the 7 Lotto winning tickets [on 09-07-02] come from locations with earlier jackpot winning experience. Below is a comprehensive table showing all 7 winning locations, the current jackpot payout, the most recent jackpot payout, how many draws had passed since then, the respective county, and how many jackpots have been awarded per county. Interesting to observe:

Pembroke Park in Broward County recorded its first ever jackpot win. Broward now has 23 locations with Lotto jackpot winners, more than any other Florida county. [Second is Palm Beach with 18 locations].

Winter Garden in Orange County recorded its second jackpot win - after almost 14 years. Orange County now has an average payout of $11.12 million for its 23 Lotto winners - the 8^th highest among 47 counties.

NR 09-08-02 ... Seven players with tickets from Fort Myers, Indialantic, Jacksonville, Ocala, Pembroke Park, Winter Garden and Winter Haven share $87.81 million Lotto jackpot on Sep 7 !!! Each winner receives $12.54 million. Higher-than-expected sales increased the previously estimated $85.00 million jackpot actually to $87.81 million, which is now the third highest top prize in the 14-year history of Lotto.

NR 09-07-02 ... One player with New Port Richey ticket wins $240,500 Fantasy 5 jackpot on Sep 6 !!! This is the highest Fantasy 5 payout in Pasco County.

Lotto Jackpot Reaches $85 Million After 10 Rollovers

NR 09-05-02 ... Florida Lotto's $85 million jackpot is currently the highest top prize in the nation - among 38 state lotteries, the District of Columbia, and even two multi-state lotteries [see table below].

The $85 million jackpot is also the 5^th highest in Lotto history and the highest since 01-19-02, when 4 winners with tickets from Brooksville, Jacksonville, Miami and Wellington shared an $87.60 million top prize. All of the winners used the Quick Pick option on that occasion, and each one collected $21.90 million.

In the event that Saturday's drawing should produce a sole winner, s/he could either opt for a single cash payment of approximately $43 million or, otherwise, receive around $2.83 million annually over the next 30 years.

On Wednesday [Sep 4] evening at 8 pm ET, ticket sales for the $66 million jackpot peaked at a rate of 45,000 per minute statewide. This was the highest sales volume ever recorded for a Wednesday Lotto draw. On Saturday [Aug 31] evening at 8 pm ET, ticket sales for the $52 million jackpot peaked at a rate of 27,000 pm statewide.

Ticket sales are expected to be in the 50,000 per minute range this Saturday [Sep 7] evening sometime between 5 - 8 pm ET. Typical Saturday sales for a $4 million jackpot peak at about 6,000 tickets per minute.

To accommodate increased player demand, an additional 34 online game terminals have been installed at high traffic retail locations on the Alabama and Georgia state borders and in metropolitan areas.

This series of 10 rollovers will contribute approximately $55 million to public education in Florida.

Lotto Jackpot Reaches $66 Million After 9 Rollovers

NR 09-03-02 ... Florida Lotto's $66 million jackpot is currently the highest single-state top prize in the nation - among 38 state lotteries and the District of Columbia. Only one multi-state jackpot is higher.

The $66 million jackpot is also the 10^th highest in Lotto history and the highest since 01-19-02, when 4 winners with tickets from Brooksville, Jacksonville, Miami and Wellington shared an $87.60 million top prize. All of the winners used the Quick Pick option on that occasion, and each one collected $21.90 million.

In the event that Wednesday's drawing should produce a sole winner, s/he could either opt for a single cash payment of approximately $33 million or, otherwise, receive around $2.2 million annually over the next 30 years.

On Saturday [Aug 31] evening at 8 pm ET, ticket sales for the $52 million jackpot peaked at a rate of 27,000 per minute statewide. On Wednesday [Aug 28] evening at 8 pm ET, ticket sales for the $40 million jackpot peaked at a rate of 17,580 per minute statewide.

Ticket sales are expected to be in the 33,000 per minute range this Wednesday [Sep 4] evening sometime between 5 - 8 pm ET. Typical Wednesday sales for a $5 million jackpot peak at 6,000 tickets per minute.

To accommodate increased player demand, an additional 23 online game terminals have been installed at high traffic retail locations on the Alabama and Georgia state borders and in large cities.

This series of 9 rollovers will contribute approximately $44 million to public education in Florida.

NR 09-03-02 ... One player with Largo ticket wins $182,653 Fantasy 5 jackpot on Sep 2 !!! This is the 12^th sole winning ticket from Pinellas County, which now has the 10^th highest average payout among all Florida counties. By comparison, Broward County has the 19^th highest and Miami-Dade County the 30^th highest average payout.

NR 09-02-02 ... Wilton Manors is the 217^th Florida location to register a Fantasy 5 jackpot winner.

NR 09-01-02 ... One player with Rockledge ticket wins $250,671 Fantasy 5 jackpot on Aug 31 !!! This is the highest Fantasy 5 payout in Brevard County and the 17^th highest individual Fantasy 5 prize awarded.