Florida Lottery Winners
The Sunshine State has had more than its fair share of winners over the years, especially for multi-state lotteries such as Powerball and Mega Millions. Florida has had multiple jackpot winners for both games, including a record-breaking Mega Millions payout. Take a look at some of the most impressive wins in Florida:
$1.6 Billion
This is the biggest Mega Millions grand prize, not only in Florida but also in the history of the game. The jackpot rolled over 31 times before reaching this amount. Only one ticket, purchased at a Publix in Neptune Beach, matched all the winning numbers. The record-breaking prize was claimed by Saltines Holdings, LLC a few months later after the lucky draw, in December 2023.
$450 Million
The second-largest Mega Millions jackpot brought home in Florida was won by a young player, Shane Missler. The 20-year-old managing member of Secret 007, LLC was eager to get his winnings and claimed the prize one week after the winning draw. He opted for the cash lump sum payment of $281 million. At that time, Shane shared that he wanted to spend the money on his passions, his family and to “do some good for humanity”. Surprisingly, he also said that the big win was something that he had “a feeling” about.
$247 Million
This grand prize was won by two lucky entries. One of them was purchased in Fort Myers, Florida, using the Quick Pick option at the store. The other winner purchased their winning ticket from California. The jackpot amount was divided evenly between them.
$591 Million
Gloria C. Mackenzie was the lucky winner who managed to match all the winning numbers and get the biggest Powerball jackpot ever won in Florida. Gloria claimed her prize two weeks after the winning draw and opted for the cash lump sum option of $370 million. She purchased the winning ticket at a Publix in Zephyrhills, Florida.
$1.6 Billion
This draw in January 2016 marked the first time in the world that a lottery jackpot had been worth more than $1 billion. The top prize was won by three winning tickets: one from Tennessee, one from California, and one from Florida. The winners from Florida were David Kaltschmidt and Maureen Smith from Melbourne Beach. Along with the other two winners, they chose the lump sum payment and equally divided the amount of $983.5 million.
$397 Million
Sometimes, choosing a Quick Pick ticket can be the smartest decision when entering the lottery. This was true in the case of Sheryll Goedert, who bought her Quick Pick ticket at a 7-Eleven on 4520 Bonita Beach Rd. in Bonita Springs. Sheryll ended up going for the cash option of $276.5 million.
$100,000
This lucky player won a impressive sum with a winning ticket that was purchased at a gas station in Miami! The jackpot for Fantasy 5 depends on ticket sales, and $100,000 is a great result for this game. While it isn’t as much as the gargantuan Powerball and Mega Millions jackpots, it’s still a lifechanging amount and, more importantly, the Fantasy 5 jackpot comes with much better odds. In fact, another player won a jackpot of $52,000 on the same day in the Morning drawing!
$50 Million
Christmas came a day early for lucky winner Richard McMullen of Tallahassee! Although bigger prizes have been won in the Lotto, Richard’s was the 1,000th jackpot win since Lotto was launched, and we like to see a nice big round number (especially on the day before Christmas). Over the years, Florida Lottery has created thousands of multi-millionaires – it could be your turn next!
$82 million
While the biggest prizes have been paid out in multi-state lotteries Mega Millions and Powerball, Florida Lotto has also offered impressive jackpots since its launch. The largest Lotto jackpot ever won was worth $81.6 million, and was won back in 2000. The prize was claimed by the Whispering Pines Lottery Trust, of New Port Richey. This remains the highest ever Lotto jackpot, because people keep winning it before it can roll any higher!