A Florida man’s regular trip to the grocery store has just become the most profitable errand of his life. Walkens Talabert, 56, won a $2 million top prize this week while playing the Florida Lottery’s Double Diamond Cashword scratch-off game.
Talabert traveled to lottery headquarters in Tallahassee on January 5 to collect his fortune. Rather than receiving the entire award in installments, he chose a single, lump-sum payout of $1,189,600.00.
The winning ticket was purchased at a local Publix, 19595 S. State Road 7 in Boca Raton, Florida.
The $10 Double Diamond Cashword game has a crossword-style format, with players revealing letters to complete words. This particular game debuted with more than $170.5 million in total cash prizes and about 7.2 million winning tickets across all reward tiers. According to Florida Lottery officials, the overall odds of winning any reward in the game are one in 3.24.
Aside from the individual wins, these ticket sales help the state meet its overall budgetary goals. Since its creation in 1988, the Florida Lottery has awarded more than $106.5 billion in prizes and created 4,521 millionaires.
The group also returns 99 percent of its revenue to the local economy via prize awards, retailer commissions, and the Educational Enhancement Trust Fund. To far, the lottery has given more than $50 billion to Florida education, including money for the Bright Futures Scholarship Program, which has sent over a million kids to college.
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