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Florida Lottery achieved highest recorded sales ever

Floridians across the state spent big for the slim chance of becoming billionaires, causing the Florida Lottery to break its all-time monthly sales record in January. Sales during the month exceeded $603 million so far, with less than one week remaining.
The previous record was achieved in March of 2015 when sales peaked at $539.5 million.
“These tremendous sales mean great things for Florida, as Lottery players, retailers and the state’s education system will directly benefit,” Secretary of the Florida Lottery Tom Delacenserie said in a Florida Lottery press release. “To be just three weeks into 2016 and already have hundreds of millions of dollars in prizes won and an estimated $187 million in revenue generated for education is truly unprecedented.”
A majority of the sales broke the record due to Powerball ticket sales, which included $237.6 million of sales. Forty percent of that money will go toward education. A series of jackpot rollovers has caused higher sales, as well as increased popularity of the Lotto’s daily draw also attributed to the high sales.
Three out of Florida’s nine sales districts – Miami, Tampa and Orlando – have each exceeded $1 billion in annual sales during 2015 for the first time ever. This roughly translates to $875.1 million in contributions made toward education. The recent Jan. 13 $1.6 billion Powerball sold over 600 million tickets and was split between three winners in California, Tennessee and Florida.
The stores that the winning tickets were sold in, a California 7-Eleven, a Tennessee Naifeh’s Food Mart and a Florida Publix each received checks. Naifeh’s received $25,000. Powerball is offered in 44 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The game’s minimum displayed jackpot is $40 million, and the annuity is paid in 30 graduates installments. However, lotto winners more often than not choose to The Florida Lottery contributes more than $29 billion to education and assists over 725,000 students attend through the Bright Futures Scholarship Program.
Through prize payouts, the Lotto reinvests 97 percent of its revenue back into the state’s economy, giving commission to over 13,000 Florida retailers as well as transfers to education. Drawings are held Wednesday and Saturday nights at 10:59 p.m. Eastern time.
The Florida Lottery began in 1988, and has paid more than $48.5 billion in prizes, causing over 1,800 people to become millionaires

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