Out-of-state player turns $5 and a trip to Florida into over $2 million
By Kate Northrop
CAMPBELLTON, Fla. — An Alabama resident turned $5 and a trip to Florida into a lottery prize worth $150,000 a year for life.
Gary Thomas, 49, of Dothan, Alabama, ended up leaving the state of Florida a millionaire thanks to a single scratch-off ticket.
On Monday, the Florida Lottery announced that Thomas claimed a top prize worth $150,000 a year for life from a $5 scratch-off game called "$150,000 a Year for Life."
He was "all smiles" when he arrived at Lottery headquarters in Tallahassee to claim his oversized check, the Lottery said.
"It's still sinking in," Thomas told the Lottery. "I couldn't believe it! I still can't believe it!"
The lucky winner chose to receive his prize as a one-time lump sum payment of $2.44 million.
Thomas purchased his winning ticket at Lotto Discount Liquor on U.S. Highway 231 in Campbellton, Florida, a retailer that sits immediately right over the Alabama-Florida border and is about a 20-minute drive away from his hometown of Dothan, Alabama. The retailer received a $4,000 bonus for selling the winning ticket.
Last year, another Dothan resident, who also happens to be a Lottery Post member, claimed a $1 million prize from a ticket purchased in Campbellton after having crossed state lines for over three decades to play the Florida Lottery.
Alabama residents interested in playing lottery games must travel into other neighboring states to buy tickets since Alabama does not have a state lottery of their own.
The "$150,000 a Year for Life" ticket is from the Florida Lottery's "Year for Life" family of instant games that are available at price points ranging from $1 to $50. With Thomas having claimed the first of four top prizes of $150,000 a year for life, three top prizes remain. There are also 105 out of 168 second-tier prizes of $10,000 and 414 out of 654 third-tier prizes of $2,000 left to claim in the game, which launched in July.
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Congrats Gary, enjoy you winnings to the fullest.
CONGRATULATIONS
That's great. But he'll still have to pay his taxes in Alabama. Good for him, Florida won't tax him.
well one set of taxes is better than two LOL
These gas stations at the Florida Alabama line are always packed with Alabama residents. There is one store right after you cross over Alabama and Florida at Cottonwood, where they actually have tables set up inside and people do lottery workouts in notebooks. If I had more time, I would sit there over the course of a week and interview people to find out their tricks and ways to play the lottery. That is a fun store.
Congratulations to Mr. Thomas!
Yea would be fun to go there and work a table and maybe win something !