TBO.com - Tampa Bay Online
Some Lottery Jackpots Never Reach Winners
ADVERTISEMENT
Published: March 13, 2008
Updated: 03/13/2008 04:29 pm
Related Links
TAMPA Mohammad Azim Hossain remembers the excitement of the day when the $50 million Lotto jackpot was drawn from his South Florida food market.
He also remembers clearly when, six months later, nobody claimed the money and the advertised jackpot expired. This week marks the drawing's five-year anniversary. It remains the biggest prize unclaimed in state Lotto history, but it's certainly not the only time someone has failed to turn in a winning ticket.
Nearly $122 million in jackpot prizes went unclaimed and expired since the Florida Lotto's inception in 1988, according to the Lottery. If the money had been claimed at a 30-year annuity instead of a one-time cash payment, it would have been about $218 million.
"That's a lot of money," said frequent Lotto player Ken Ledford of North Tampa, moments after he bought scratch-off tickets today. "I don't know why people buy them if they don't check on 'em."
The Lotto has handed out $8 billion in prizes through Dec. 31. That includes all tiers, not just jackpot winners, Florida Lottery spokeswoman Jackie Barreiros said.
Eighty percent of the unclaimed prizes are given to education and the rest goes back to the Florida Lottery's prize pool, she said. That money isn't the Lottery's advertised jackpot prize, but rather the amount available for the one-time cash payment, which is roughly 45 percent less, she said.
No taxes are taken off the unclaimed money.
About $570 million in lottery prizes – nearly 2 percent of the $33 billion awarded – went unclaimed nationally in 2006, according to USA TODAY. Tickets expire in 90 days, 180 days or one year, according to state rules. Most states that run lotteries keep the money and spend it on things like economic development and education, USA TODAY reported.
A Lotto ticket purchased at a Pinellas Park Winn-Dixie for a Feb. 20 drawing sat on the hook for weeks, but Lottery officials announced Wednesday the $37 million jackpot had been claimed. Linda Giguere, 61, of Pinellas Park chose the one-time lump sum payment of about $20.8 million.
The Winn-Dixie received a bonus incentive of $45,000 for selling the winning ticket. Stores that sell winning tickets that don't get claimed receive the same bonus incentive they would have if the money had been claimed, Barreiros said.
Hillsborough County had an advertised $6 million Lotto jackpot go unclaimed following a January 1990 drawing. The location where that winning ticket was purchased wasn't available from the Lottery.
The ticket's winning numbers were 16-18-23-28-44-49.
About $22 million in advertised jackpot prizes from the Lotto have expired from Pinellas County.
The state's biggest unclaimed jackpot, Hossain remembers, came from his Kohl's Food Market in North Bay Village. Even if the winner had claimed a lump sum, the ticket would have been worth more than $30 million.
Reached Tuesday by phone at his South Florida home, Hossain said he thinks someone lost the ticket. He bought a ticket for himself for the March 12, 2003 drawing, but his number wasn't drawn.
The winning numbers for that jackpot were: 22-23-35-45-50-53.
Hossain's luck hasn't been the best since the store closed in 2005. He went to work in a different store and was shot between the liver and lung by people trying to rob the place, he said.
He was in a coma for months.
"I work now," he said, "but I don't work too much."
The state's second-biggest unclaimed Lotto jackpot was drawn three years later on the same date, March 12. That ticket, worth an advertised $20 million, was sold at a Broward County 7-Eleven.
Hossain said he understands how someone could misplace a lottery ticket.
"Even me, sometimes, I put a ticket in my pocket and wash my clothes," he said.
Ledford said he, too, has washed a ticket in his clothes. But Ledford said that if people don't turn in winning tickets, they're the ones to blame.
"If you can't claim something in six months, that's on you, isn't it?" he asked.
The Lottery sends out press releases one month and also one week before Lotto jackpots expire, trying to let people know that winning tickets have gone unclaimed, Barreiros said.
Millions also have gone unclaimed in the Fantasy 5, another type of lottery, in the past five years.
One unclaimed Fantasy 5 ticket worth more than $114,000, bought at a Tampa store, is set to expire midnight Saturday – six months after it was purchased. That ticket was purchased at La Teresita Grocery, 3302 W. Columbus Drive, for the Sept. 17 drawing.
It matched all five numbers: 4-10-21-24-30.
Here are Florida's top five unclaimed jackpot prizes since the Lotto's inception:
$50 million*, Dade County, March 12, 2003, Kohl's Food Market, 22-23-35-45-50-53
$20 million*, Broward County, March 12, 2005, 1534 7-Eleven #10557, 3-4-19-29-34-37
$15 million*, Seminole County, March 30, 1991, No business listed, 28-29-34-37-42-44
$15 million*, Pinellas County, February 14, 2004, 1552 7-Eleven #10270, 3-5-21-27-31-50
$10 million*, Bay County, December 16, 1995, E-Z Serve #4025, 4-6-14-25-29-36
*If the money is claimed at a 30-year annuity instead of a one-time lump sum
Source: Florida Lottery
Researcher Stephanie Pincus contributed to this report. Reporter Josh Poltilove can be reached at jpoltilove@tampatrib.com or (813) 259-7691.
Post a comment
(Requires free registration.)
* Keep it clean
* Respect others
* Don't hate
* Don't use language you wouldn't use with your mom
* Use "Report Inappropriate Comments" link when necessary
* See Member Agreement for details
TBO.com - Tampa Bay Online Member Agreement | Privacy Statement | Work With Us
Reader Comments
Posted by ( smmitty84 ) on March 13, 2008 at 5:20 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
They should use that 50 million and raise teacher salaries.
Report Inappropriate Comments
Posted by ( Oshunbaby ) on March 13, 2008 at 5:57 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
smmitty84, I second that!
Report Inappropriate Comments
Posted by ( pcdebb ) on March 13, 2008 at 6:06 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
i always put my lottery ticket in my wallet next to my money or debit card....with the hopes of making the ticket rich :-P
Report Inappropriate Comments
Posted by ( mishymale ) on March 13, 2008 at 6:53 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
how come you dont get a year to make your claim in florida like you do in other states, and that goes for all lottery games
Report Inappropriate Comments
Posted by ( flbratt ) on March 14, 2008 at 9:39 a.m. ( Suggest removal )
I think they should give tot he teachers and the schools. And if you want to throw a little to my fund that would be cool too!
Report Inappropriate Comments