A Tampa woman beat the odds and won the top $5,000,000 prize after purchasing a lottery ticket at a gas station.
Monday, the Florida Lottery announced that Mercedes Nunez, 34, claimed the prize on June 29 at the Florida Lottery Headquarters in Tallahassee, adding that Nunez bought her ticket at a Murphy USA, located at 1405 W. 15th Street in Panama City.
According to the Florida Lottery, Nunez received her prize as a one-time lump-sum payment of $2,779,400.
Nunez played a ticket of the 200X THE CASH, a $20 scratch-off game, which offers a top prize of $5 million, according to the Florida Lottery. The odds of this game are 1-in-2.96 and it features over 6.9 million winning tickets with $313 million in total cash prizes.
“Designed for players who love big multipliers and big excitement, this powerful $20 ticket delivers thrilling play and massive prize potential,” the Florida Lottery said in a statement.
The Florida Lottery notes that 74% of ticket sales in fiscal year 2025-2026 came from scratch-off games. Also, $73.5 billion in prizes have been awarded, creating 2,544 millionaires.