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Florida Woman's Quick Pick Wins Final Share of $3 Million Lotto Jackpot

A Chinese restaurant owner from Boynton Beach waited two weeks after the drawing to claim the final one-third share of the estimated $3 million jackpot from the July 4, 2001 FLORIDA LOTTO drawing.

Yim-Kuen Chan, 45, who owns Fon Shan Chinese Restaurant, today traveled to Lottery Headquarters in Tallahassee to redeem her winning ticket. She could have chosen to receive her estimated $1 million winnings in 30 annual installments of approximately $33,333 per year(a), but instead chose a one-time cash payment of $497,462.

``I didn't check my tickets until the next day after the drawing because I was so busy at work,'' said Yim-Kuen, who was accompanied to Tallahassee by one of her two sons. ``I looked in the Palm Beach Post to check my tickets, and when I saw the numbers, I realized I had the winning numbers. 'This is it!' I said to myself.''

Yim-Kuen bought her lucky ticket at the Publix Supermarket, located at 4753 N. Congress Avenue in Lantana. The store will receive one-third of the $10,000 retailer bonus for selling the jackpot ticket. The winning numbers for the Wednesday, July 4, 2001 drawing are: 16 - 18 - 20 - 21 - 25 - 27.

``I wanted to double check that I had won, so I sent my oldest son over to the store to check the numbers in a Lottery machine,'' said Yim-Kuen. ``When he returned, I checked the numbers again and again to make sure I was the winner. I also found out there were two other winners for that drawing.''

There were three winning tickets for the July 4 drawing. The first winner to claim his one-third share was Roger Wohl of Largo. Mary Chadbourne of Biloxi, Miss., claimed the second winning ticket last week.

``We plan to use my winnings to pay off a hospital bill, for my kids college education and save for retirement,'' Yim-Kuen said. ``I am really happy about this! I plan to keep working at our restaurant and keep playing LOTTO, so I can win again.''

Yim-Kuen is the 60th FLORIDA LOTTO winner either to reside in or purchase a winning ticket in Palm Beach County, and the 656th LOTTO winner to win at least $1 million since 1988.

The jackpot for tonight's (Wednesday) FLORIDA LOTTO drawing is estimated at $16 million. The drawing will be broadcast live on 13 television stations statewide at 11 p.m. EDT.

(a) Prize estimate based on current interest rates on day of prize claim.

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