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A Florida man is going home richer thanks to his luck while playing a scratch-off lottery game, according to the Florida Lottery.
Officials announced Thursday (February 9) that 53-year-old Darrin Thorpe, of Port St. Lucie, won $1 million from the 500X THE CASH Scratch-Off game. The lucky winner chose to claim his winnings as a one-time, lump-sum payment of $820,000 at the Lottery Headquarters in Tallahassee.
Thorpe bought his winning ticket from Circle K, which is located at 400 Southeast Port St. Lucie Boulevard in Port St. Lucie. The store will get a $2,000 bonus commission for selling the lucky scratcher.
"The $50 game, 500X THE CASH, features a top prize of $25 million—the largest ever offered on a Florida Scratch-Off game—and the best odds to become an instant millionaire!" officials wrote. "The game's overall odds of winning are 1-in-4.50."
Scratch-off games have made plenty of Floridians millionaires. A Fort Lauderdale resident played 500X THE CASH and won big like Thorpe. Then, there was a Delray Beach man who was waiting patiently in a lottery line at Publix until someone cut him off. That moment actually made him a millionaire, according to him.