Yahoo Finance Florida Man Goes Out for a Sandwich, Comes Home with a $5 Million Lottery Ticket
"My hands were trembling from disbelief," the winner said
Courtesy of Florida Lottery
Travis Hall (right) and his wife Nicole HallA Florida man's spontaneous decision to purchase a scratch-off lottery ticket has made him a millionaire.
Travis Hall, 44, of Port St. Lucie, Florida, recently stopped by a Publix grocery store with the intention of purchasing a sandwich. While there, he also took a chance on the $20 Monopoly Doubler scratch-off lottery ticket — a decision that resulted in him winning a $5 million prize.
"I stopped at Publix to grab a sub and decided to try my luck with a $20 Scratch-Off," Hall explained to state officials, per an official press release from the Florida Lottery. "Little did I know, it would turn into a $5 million-dollar win!”
Luck was certainly on Hall's side when he purchased the ticket. The Florida Lottery states that the $20 Monopoly Doubler scratch-off has a potential $493 million in cash prizes, which includes only eight top prizes valued at $5 million apiece. The game's overall odds of winning are 1-in-3.02.
Hall wasn’t aware that he was a millionaire immediately, however, as the top prize winner shared that he took some time before actually revealing the ticket's numbers.
“After waiting days to scratch the ticket, I handed it to my wife — my hands were trembling from disbelief at what I was seeing,” he told lottery officials.
The lucky individual chose to receive his earnings as a one-time, lump-sum payment of $3,994,698.00, but he wasn’t the only one to reap the rewards of the ticket. The retailer that sold Hall his ticket will receive a $10,000 bonus commission for handling the transaction.
Money generated from Florida’s scratch-off games have brought in more than $18.09 billion for the state’s Educational Enhancement Trust Fund (EETF), according to the organization. Florida’s lottery also supports the Bright Futures Scholarship Program, to which it has contributed over $44 billion since its inception.
Hall's big win comes as the Powerball jackpot reaches a mammoth $672 million ahead of Wednesday's drawing.
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