It's a story we first told you about four years ago…. Florida Lottery scratch-off tickets for sale after all the top prizes have been taken.
I-Team Investigator Adam Walser has uncovered that even though the games have changed and payouts have increased, your chance of winning a top prize may not be as good as you think.
Carlos Howard is on a lucky streak.
He won $1 million playing a $20 scratch-off ticket at the Fletcher Avenue Quick Mart six weeks ago.
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“The only thing I know is I just kept playing, and if I win, I'll play it back,” Howard said.
He said that up until recently, he never checked to see how many top prizes remained before buying a ticket.
When the Money Bags scratch-off game first came out last May, the odds of winning the top prize of $30,000 was one in 2,400,000.
But now the odds are zero, since all the top prizes have already been claimed.
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We discovered no top prizes remain for half-a-dozen scratch-off games currently being sold by the Florida Lottery.
“You've got quite a few of them that's up here right now that already done been hit,” said Howard, pointing to a row of lottery tickets currently for sale.
“It's not fair, because they say one thing and then it's another,” Howard said. .
Only about 20 percent of Florida scratch-off games currently being sold have more than half-of their top prizes remaining, even though they advertise jackpots up to $15 million.
We showed lottery player Walter Duncan how to better his odds using information the lottery provides on its website.
“I would buy something that would give me a better chance,” said Duncan.
“The Florida Lottery encourages players to use the ‘Remaining Top Prizes’ page on our website as a reference. However, it’s important to note that the webpage does not list all of the remaining prizes—only the top prizes. Every ticket purchased always has a chance to be a winner,” the Florida Lottery said in a statement.
“They also have those little prizes, like $500 winners, or $100 winners or $50 ,” said Tampa lottery retailer Mike Patel. “So people can win that money even though all the top prizes are gone.”
Duncan says he'll keeping trying to hit the big one.
“That's what you hope you win,” he said
See how many top prizes remain in Florida Lottery scratch off games here .
If you have a story you’d like the I-Team to investigate, contact us at adam@abcactionnews.com