Sometimes a minor inconvenience might result in the biggest stroke of luck.
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Stephen Munoz Espinoza from Delray Beach, Florida won $1 million in a scratch-off ticket this week after he was cut in line at the lottery vending machine in a Publix store.
“It was the end of a long day, and I was tired. I stopped at Publix and was about to buy a ticket at the machine when a man cut right in front of me,” he explained to the Florida Lottery. “Instead of saying something, I decided I’d just buy a ticket at the counter instead. I can’t believe I won a million dollars!”
The Publix in question was located at 555 Northeast 5th Avenue in Delray Beach — having four number “5’s” in a row at the address, it’s safe to say this location was destined for some good fortune.
The 5th Ave Publix will receive a $2,000 lump sum as a reward for selling the winning numbers.
Espinoza chose the option to receive the taxed prize as an $820,000 one-time payment which he said will be put towards buying a home for his family.
According to the Florida lottery, 77% of all lottery tickets from 2021-2022 were scratch-off tickets.
This isn’t the first stroke of lotto luck to hit the sunshine state in recent months.
This past October, a winning Mega Millions ticket was purchased in Fort Myers, Florida. which saw a jackpot of $494 million (split with another winning ticket purchased in California).
October’s Mega Millions marked the third-ever winner of its kind in Florida.