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Raffle Millions Still Unclaimed

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By CARLOS MONCADA | The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 2, 2008

TAMPA - Of the dozen tickets drawn Saturday to determine the biggest winners of the Florida Lottery Holiday Millionaire Raffle, one-third were sold in the Tampa Bay area, state officials announced.

None of the 12 had claimed the money as of this morning, Florida Lottery spokesman Alfred Dea said.

Saturday's drawing was the third such holiday raffle offered by the Florida Lottery. The numbered $20 tickets, which went on sale Nov. 19 and could be bought until Thursday, had a 1-in-125,000 chance of winning $1 million, the best odds in the history of the Florida Lottery, officials said.

One of the 12 winning tickets was bought at Brown's Country Corner, 2501 Medulla Road, Plant City. Owner Sung Brown hopes it was someone local.

"They just called me from the lottery," Brown said Saturday afternoon. "That was really good news. I'm so happy. I'm wondering if it's one of our daily customers. We don't know who it is yet."

Although the person who bought the ticket at Brown's could have been somebody just passing through, Brown said it's unlikely.

"We don't have a lot of people who come from out of town. It's all local," said Brown, who has owned the convenience and grocery store for 18 years. "It's the daily customers who buy the tickets. I hope it's one of them."

The number of the winning ticket sold at Brown's is 0223528.

Another $1 million ticket was sold in Riverview, at Raceway, 10032 Gibsonton Drive (ticket number 0891487). Two $1 million tickets were sold in Clearwater: at Hess Express, 1625 McMullen-Booth Road (1204456); and at Albertsons, 1921 N. Belcher Road (1264371).

"We're so excited," said Sue Edwards, assistant lobby manager at the Clearwater Albertsons. "We have no idea who it is. We're asking everybody who walks into the store if they bought a ticket."

The other $1 million tickets were sold in Orange Park (ticket 0034993), Lake Mary (0546490), Hialeah (0926396), Fort Myers (1112995), Jupiter (1140832), Lake City (1329469), Palm Bay (1260089) and Barberville (1460167).

The game produced more millionaires in a single drawing than in any other Florida Lottery game, officials said.

In addition, the Lottery will award 25 prizes of $100,000 and 200 prizes of $10,000. Sixty-two people have claimed either $10,000 or $100,000, Dea said.

Saturday's drawing randomly selected 237 winning numbers for a total worth of $16.5 million. Players with the first 12 numbers will receive $1 million each.

The winners must claim their prizes within 180 days, except for the $50 tickets, which must be redeemed within 60 days.

Winners of the $1 million prizes must take their tickets to the Florida Lottery office in Tallahassee. Players may view all winning numbers on the Florida Lottery's Web site, www.flalottery.com. Or they can call the office at 1-850- 487-7777. The winning numbers also will be publicized at lottery retailers statewide.

Reporters Josh Poltilove and George Wilkens contributed to this report. Reporter Carlos Moncada can be reached at (727) 451-2333 or cmoncada@tampatrib.com.

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