Just days after a Lutz woman claimed a $1 million prize from a grocery store in Lutz, a Publix Super Market near Sunlake High School is boasting an even bigger lottery prize.
A Riverview man purchased a Flamingo Fortune scratch-off game ticket from the Publix, located at 18901 State Road 54 in Lutz, and won $3 million.
John Opliger, 35, chose to receive a one-time lump-sum payment of $2.3 million, while Publix earned a $6,000 bonus commission for selling the ticket.
Tickets for Flamingo Fortune cost $20, and offers more than $150 million in total cash prizes, Florida Lottery officials said. That includes six $3 million prizes, with five of them now claimed.
Last week, a Lutz woman won a $1 million prize from a scratch-off ticket she purchased at the Winn-Dixie at 18407 U.S. 41 in Lutz. Yu Lin said she won the prize just in time to celebrate her birthday.
Scratch-off games account for nearly 64 percent of overall lottery ticket sales, officials said. It generated more than $640 million for the Educational Enhancement Trust Fund in the past year.
