TALLAHASSEE -Today, the Florida Lottery (Lottery) announces that Melanie Strickland, 60, of Tallahassee, claimed a $1 million prize from the GOLD RUSH LIMITED Scratch-Off game at Lottery Headquarters in Tallahassee. She chose to receive her winnings as a one-time, lump-sum payment of $795,000.00.
When asked by Lottery Headquarters if Strickland has any big plans for her win, she wasn’t sure, “I think I still can’t believe it. I just wish my mom was here to see this.” Strickland recalls her mom collecting any spare pennies she found and placing them in a jar. Strickland’s morning at the Parkside Food and Gas was a routine pit stop, and after discovering her big win, Strickland went back to tell her friends. “When I stepped out of my car, the first thing I saw was a big, shiny penny. I picked it up in honor of my mom.”
Strickland purchased her winning ticket from Parkside Food and Gas, located at 1417 South Monroe Street in Tallahassee. The retailer will receive a $2,000 bonus commission for selling the winning Scratch-Off ticket.
The $20 Scratch-Off game, GOLD RUSH LIMITED, launched in September 2021 and features 32 top prizes of $5 million and 100 prizes of $1 million! Additionally, this ticket is filled with over 33,000 prizes of $1,000 to $100,000! The game’s overall odds of winning are 1-in-2.65.
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 $1.3 billion for the Educational Enhancement Trust Fund (EETF) in fiscal year 2020-21.
