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Cash is the word; Osceola County woman becomes multi-millionaire playing Florida lottery scratch-off

Cash is the word; Osceola County woman becomes multi-millionaire playing Florida lottery scratch-off game

OSCEOLA COUNTY, Fla. — A Kissimmee woman is a multi-millionaire after winning a top prize of $5 million from the $5,000,000 CASHWORD scratch-off game from the Florida Lottery.

Janice Velez claimed the $5 million after purchasing her ticket from the RaceTrac, located at 4541 Pleasant Hill Road in Kissimmee.

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The 60-year-old chose to receive her winnings as a one-time, lump-sum payment of $3,915,000.

The store that sold the winning ticket received a $10,000 bonus commission.

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The $20 game, launched in May 2020 and features eight top prizes of $5 million and 24 second-tier prizes of $1 million.

Scratch-off games made up 72% of ticket sales in the 2022-2023 fiscal year.

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Since inception, scratch-off games have awarded more than $58.3 billion in prizes, created 1,878 millionaires, and generated more than $18.09 billion for the Educational Enhancement Trust Fund.

Since 1988, Florida Lottery games have paid more than $89 billion in prizes and made nearly 3,700 people millionaires.

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The Florida Lottery is responsible for contributing more than $45 billion to enhance education and sending more than 983,000 students to college through the Bright Futures Scholarship Program.

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