MILTON, Fla. — One lucky Florida man has millions of reasons to celebrate after winning a grand prize from a Florida lottery scratch-off ticket.
Bernard Waters, a 63-year-old from Milton, Fla., claimed the $5 million top prize from the $20 MONOPOLY DOUBLER Scratch-Off game this week. According to the Florida lottery, Waters chose to receive his winnings as a one-time, lump-sum payment of $3,994,698.
He reportedly purchased the winning ticket from S Food Mart Three, LLC off of Stewart Street in Milton. For selling the winning ticket, the store will receive a $10,000 bonus commission.
The Florida Lottery says the MONOPOLY DOUBLER Scratch-Off game features more than $493 million in cash prizes. Although Waters claimed one of the top prizes, there are 7 others still to be won. There is a 1-in-4,186,110 chance at scratching off the top prize.
The second prize for the game is a whopping $1 million. Three of the 16 $1 million prizes from the game have already been claimed as of this writing.
After the $1 million marker, prizes range from $20 to $100,000.
The game's overall odds of winning are said to be 1-in-3.02.
Scratch-off games comprise of about 72 percent of all ticket sales as of 2022-23, the Florida Lottery said in a press release. The Florida Lottery helps to benefit education in the state, and more than $18.39 billion has been generated for Florida's Educational Enhancement Trust Fund.
"The Florida Lottery is responsible for contributing more than $45 billion to enhance education and sending more than 983,000 students to college," a press release explains.
