TAMPA, Fla. – The first $1 million top prize winner from Florida Lottery’s new Struck By Luck game has been revealed — and if he bought his ticket at his usual spot, he would have been out of luck.
“The store where we usually buy our tickets was very busy, so we decided to go down the road to get them instead,” Demetrios Valeas told state lottery officials. “We definitely felt ‘struck’ by luck after that split decision turned into a $1 million win!”
Recommended Videos
Valaes, 61, of Tampa, bought the winning $10 ticket from Rainbow Food Mart (3302 South West Shore Blvd. in Tampa).
He elected a lump-sum payout of $880,000, Florida Lottery said.
Struck By Luck debuted Aug. 16 and has four of those $1 million top prizes.
A Florida woman was also just announced as the first $1 million winner in the new Gold Rush Limited scratch-off game.
MORE LOTTERY WINNERS:
Florida Lottery reveals 2 big scratch-off winners
Million-dollar Powerball winner sold in Miami-Dade
Miami-Dade man wins $1,000 a week for life lottery prize
2 Florida men head into weekend with $1 million lottery wins