Print

Email story

Comment

Email editor

Feeling lucky?

You won't remain anonymous, and someone will have to present a valid Lotto ticket in the capital. After you check your numbers, check out how your income ranks against pooh-bahs and Pooh.

By GRAHAM BRINK
Published April 19, 2006

So now we know the numbers. What next?

Early this morning, Florida Lottery officials ran computer searches to determine the number of winning Lotto tickets, if any, and where they were bought.

No one will be declared a winner until they show up at the Florida Lottery office in Tallahassee with a valid ticket. Winning tickets undergo a forensic exam to ensure against forgeries.

Winners have 180 days to cash their tickets. But anyone who waits more than 60 days loses the option of taking the money in a lump sum. Instead, they will take the payout over 30 years, said Florida Lottery spokesman Alfred Bea. That's usually not a problem with big jackpots.

"Do you know anyone who will wait that long to check a ticket potentially worth more than $80-million?" Bea asked.

If you won, don't expect to remain anonymous. Florida law requires that winners' names and hometowns be released to anyone who asks.

"Even if someone, like your lawyer, is claiming the prize on your behalf, we still view you as the winner," Bea said.

If no one claims the jackpot in time, 80 percent goes to education and 20 percent to enhancing the prizes of other Florida Lottery games, Bea said.

"But we much prefer that the rightful winner comes in to claim their prize," he said.

Times researcher Angie Drobnic Holan contributed to this report.

[Last modified April 19, 2006, 23:07:34]