ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — One Tampa man is celebrating becoming a multi-millionaire overnight.
Stevyn Bartlette, 45, won the $5 million top prize on a $20 Gold Rush Limited scratch-off game. He chose to receive his winnings as a one-time, lump-sum payment of $3,960,000, according to the Florida Lottery.
Bartlette bought the lucky ticket from the Publix store on 54th Avenue South in St. Petersburg, which will receive a $10,000 bonus for selling the winning scratch-off.
According to the Florida Lottery, the Gold Rush Limited game features only 32 top prizes of $5 million. A Lakland man won also won the $5 million top prize just last week.
The tickets include 100 prizes of $1 million and more than 33,000 prizes between $1,000 and $100,000.
The Florida Lottery says scratch-off games comprise about 75% of ticket sales, generating more than $1.3 billion for the Educational Enhancement Trust Fund in the 2020-2021 fiscal year.
