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Orlando man strikes gold in million-dollar scratch-off win

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — An Orange County man is a millionaire after striking gold and winning a $1 million prize from the GOLD RUSH LIMITED scratch-off game from the Florida Lottery.

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Efren Villamar Herrera, of Orlando, claimed the $1 million prize after purchasing his ticket from the Wawa located at 3100 South Orange Avenue.

The 56-year-old chose to receive his winnings as a one-time, lump-sum payment of $795,000.

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The store that sold the winning ticket received a $2,000 bonus commission.

The $20 game features 32 top prizes of $5 million and 100 prizes of $1 million, with additional tickets filled with more than 33,000 prizes of $1,000 to $100,000.

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Scratch-off games made up 74% of ticket sales in the 2023-2024 fiscal year.

Since their inception, scratch-off games have awarded more than $63.1 billion in prizes, created 2,175 millionaires, and generated more than $19.24 billion for the Education Enhancement Trust Fund.

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The Florida Lottery is responsible for contributing more than $46 billion to enhance education and sending more than 983,000 students to college through the Bright Futures Scholarship Program.

Since 1988, Florida Lottery games have paid more than $95.7 billion in prizes and made more than 4,000 people millionaires, according to lottery officials.

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