Lottery player’s stop at Florida convenience store results in life-changing purchase

A $50 lottery ticket purchased at a convenience store paid off in a big way for a woman in the Florida Panhandle.

Josephine Galarza’s pricey ticket was in the “$1,000,000 A YEAR FOR LIFE SPECTACULAR,” a scratch-off game, according to an Aug. 27 Florida Lottery news release.

Her ticket was worth $1 million, and odds of winning that prize are 1 in 185,709, officials say.

Galarza, 36, lives in Panama City, and picked up her money Aug. 27 at the lottery headquarters in Tallahassee.

“She chose to receive her winnings as a one-time, lump-sum payment of $640,000,” officials said.

Galarza offered no comment to lottery officials on how she intended to spend the money.

As impressive as her win sounds, Galarza did not get a top prize in the game. The jackpot is “$1 million a year for life,” and the odds of winning one of those two prizes are 1 in 21,727,995, according to officials.

She bought the ticket at the Speedway Food Mart on West Highway 98 in Panama City, and the retailer gets a $2,000 commission for selling the winning ticket, officials said.

Panama City is about a 140-mile drive southeast from Pensacola.

This story was originally published August 28, 2024 at 9:53 AM with the headline "Lottery player’s stop at Florida convenience store results in life-changing purchase."