SEARCH NEWS:

 

$65 MILLION Vero Beach LOTTO Winners Travel in Style to Claim Jackpot!

They arrived at Florida Lottery Headquarters today to present the sole winning ticket from the July 22 drawing for an estimated $65 million LOTTO jackpot. Higher than expected sales for the Jackpot actually pushed the total amount to $66.09 million.

Members of the group, known as the ``Bent Pine Lottery Group Jackpot Trust,'' opted to take their winnings in a single-payment Cash Option of $32.09 million, rather than take the jackpot in 30 annual installments of approximately $2,166,666.(1)

The estimated $65 million jackpot is the eighth largest overall in Florida Lottery history. The highest single winning ticket was worth $81.6 million from the March 29th jackpot, won by a group of nursing home workers from New Port Richey.

We just started jumping up and down at home when we found out we had won!`` said Jo-Anne Dowling, 45, a waitress at the country club who bought $56 worth of tickets for the group. ''We had some people put in $1, some $2, and some $3, and we have been doing this for 10 years.``

The group used the Lottery's ``Quick Pick'' system to pick the winning numbers. The winning numbers for the July 22 drawing are: 09 - 10 - 14 - 26 - 34 -42. The winners bought their lucky ticket at T & S Mobil Mart, located at 4315 20th St. in Vero Beach.

Fourteen of the 26 members of the group, who work for the Bent Pine Country Club in Vero Beach, traveled to Tallahassee for the ceremonial check presentation. They carried their winning ticket in a metal strong box wrapped in a metal chain.

The group stored the winning ticket in a safe deposit box at a local bank while they made plans about how to claim their prize.

The group is the 625th FLORIDA LOTTO ticketholder to win a jackpot of $1 million or more since LOTTO began in 1988. Eight of those LOTTO jackpots have either been won by players who reside in or bought their tickets at a retail location in Indian River County.

< Gaming News