Florida Lotto reaches its largest jackpot in 12 years

Aug 17, 2013, 7:48 am (54 comments)

Florida Lottery

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — The jackpot in this weekend's Florida Lotto game is reaching its highest level in 12 years.

Lottery officials reported Friday that the jackpot for the Saturday drawing had reached $54 million. That's the highest total since September 2001.

The jackpot has reached that total because no one has been able to match all six numbers since the April 24 drawing.

Florida Lotto is the state's flagship lottery game that has been around since 1988. But it has been eclipsed in popularity in recent years by multi-state games such as Powerball.

Jackpot prizes are paid in 30 annual installments or as a one-time, lump-sum payment. Jackpot winners have 60 days after the draw to select the lump-sum payment option. Winners must claim their prizes within 180 days from the applicable drawing.

Saturday's drawing will take place at 11:00 pm Eastern Time. The results will be published on Lottery Post's Florida Lottery Results page soon after the drawing.

Lottery Post Staff

Comments

th19940305

Already got my tiks

schmuckatelly's avatarschmuckatelly

Got my personal and my pools ticket.

mypiemaster's avatarmypiemaster

After all the monster jackpots we've had lately,..........$54mil. cash is great, annuity...not a big deal anymore. I will still gladly take either one regardless. A win is a win.

duckman's avatarduckman

In the beginning of the Florida Lottery this would have been a big deal. Over $50mil created much more buzz and when it got to over $100mil on rare occasion it was all over the news.

The odds are much better with Florida Lotto at approximately 23mil to 1 vs. Powerball or MegaMillions at 175mil to 1...

RJOh's avatarRJOh

Back in the nineties when only a few states had their own lotteries and Florida lottery jackpots got this large I remember reading about people flying there to buy thousands of tickets for resale in their own states for a dollar or two extra.  It didn't take long before other states with large populations started their own lottery.

dallascowboyfan's avatardallascowboyfan

Hmm.........how far is Florida from Oklahoma Big Grin lol.... Good luck to all the Florida LP playersThumbs Up

stunna6036's avatarstunna6036

Quote: Originally posted by mypiemaster on Aug 17, 2013

After all the monster jackpots we've had lately,..........$54mil. cash is great, annuity...not a big deal anymore. I will still gladly take either one regardless. A win is a win.

maybe its time the lottery start advertising the cash value rather than annuity............winners seem to always take the cash. when was the last time somebody won a major jackpot and took the annuity.

helpmewin's avatarhelpmewin

Quote: Originally posted by mypiemaster on Aug 17, 2013

After all the monster jackpots we've had lately,..........$54mil. cash is great, annuity...not a big deal anymore. I will still gladly take either one regardless. A win is a win.

I Agree!

RJOh's avatarRJOh

Quote: Originally posted by stunna6036 on Aug 17, 2013

maybe its time the lottery start advertising the cash value rather than annuity............winners seem to always take the cash. when was the last time somebody won a major jackpot and took the annuity.

I would like to see the cash amounts advertised with an option of three annuities, 10, 20 or 30 years.

helpmewin's avatarhelpmewin

Quote: Originally posted by dallascowboyfan on Aug 17, 2013

Hmm.........how far is Florida from Oklahoma Big Grin lol.... Good luck to all the Florida LP playersThumbs Up

just a plane ride away Yes Nod

Ronnie316

Quote: Originally posted by RJOh on Aug 17, 2013

I would like to see the cash amounts advertised with an option of three annuities, 10, 20 or 30 years.

Good idea, but I don't think truth in advertising applies to lotteries.

mypiemaster's avatarmypiemaster

Quote: Originally posted by helpmewin on Aug 17, 2013

just a plane ride away Yes Nod

I Agree! Bring extra cash with you.

mypiemaster's avatarmypiemaster

Quote: Originally posted by Ronnie316 on Aug 17, 2013

Good idea, but I don't think truth in advertising applies to lotteries.

Only when pigs fly. Come to think of it, I saw a pig, last week, on the plane. Maybe it was just a piglet.

RJOh's avatarRJOh

Quote: Originally posted by Ronnie316 on Aug 17, 2013

Good idea, but I don't think truth in advertising applies to lotteries.

When state lotteries first started they were only annuities and than a few years ago states started offering cash options.  As one time only one persons could claim their prizes which made it harder for lottery pools to spread the tax burden fairly and that changed and I wouldn't be surprised if how lottery jackpots are advertised doesn't change some day too.

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