TALLAHASSEE – The Florida Lottery announces that Hector Ortiz, 70, of North Port, claimed the first $500,000 top prize from the new 20X CROSSWORD Scratch-Off game after mailing in his winning ticket to Florida Lottery Headquarters in Tallahassee. He purchased his winning ticket from Publix, located at 1291 South Sumter Boulevard in North Port.
The $5 game, 20X CROSSWORD, launched in July and features over $113 million in total cash prizes. The game’s overall odds of winning are one-in-3.99.
Scratch-Off games are an important part of the Lottery’s portfolio of games, comprising approximately 75 percent of ticket sales and generating more than $1 billion for the Educational Enhancement Trust Fund (EETF) in fiscal year 2019-20.
To help protect employees and players during the COVID-19 outbreak, Florida Lottery Headquarters and district offices remain closed to the public until further notice. Players who have winning tickets are encouraged to utilize the Lottery’s secured drop box located at each district office or mail tickets to Florida Lottery Headquarters or their nearest district office. All claim deadlines have been extended, giving players the option to hold on to winning tickets and wait to claim any prizes until Lottery offices reopen to the public. For more information, please visit www.flalottery.com/closures
