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After the Florida lottery was founded in 1988, Florida voters passed a law that stated the Florida lottery had to give a significant amount of its earnings to educational programs, like the Florida scholarship program, Bright Futures. To get an idea how much the lottery has funded education, look at this. The Florida lottery had banked $21 billion after 10 years of running. Of that, they gave $8 billion to education.
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It began when the first tickets were sold on April 29, 1988. Soon after, on May 7, 1988, the first drawings took place. Back then, players had to pick six numbers between 1 and 49. They waited until Saturday when drawings were held to see if they had won. Jackpot winners received their winnings in yearly payments for 20 years.
Since then, the game has changed. Now players choose six numbers between 1 and 53. For a while the jackpots were larger after Florida lottery started distributing 33.5 percent of the earnings to the jackpot instead of 25 percent, but now that they have drawings twice a week, (Wednesdays and Saturdays) the jackpots are around $3 million. At least they have the option to receive their payment as a lump sum, which amounts to about two thirds of the jackpot.
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Since 2008, players can pay extra to increase their odds of winning the jackpot. If you pay an extra $2 and win the jackpot, you get an extra $10 million paid yearly, and if you pay an extra $3 and win the jackpot, you get an extra $25 million paid yearly. Unfortunately, the extra payments do not affect the lower prize winnings. If no one wins the jackpot, only the advertised jackpot rolls over. The extra $2 and $3 payments do not roll over.
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After you have claimed your prize, which must be done in 180 days from the draw, you have 60 days to decide if you want to be paid in lump sum. If you don't, then you will be paid yearly for 30 years. Those that choose to receive their winnings as a lump sum, will lose about 1/3 of the prize money. If you win more then $250,000, you must claim your winnings at the Florida Lottery Headquarters in Tallahassee.
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The largest unclaimed prize was $53 million in September, 2003, in which 80 percent went to the Educational Enhancement Trust Fund, and the remaining 20 percent went toward the next jackpot and prizes.
Sheela Ryan won the largest jackpot for her time of $55 million, in which she used to do charity work where she lives.
A draw that raised around $30 million in profits occurred in 1990 when six players won $106 million. After they divided the winnings, they each had $17 million.
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