Tuesday night’s Florida Lottery Fantasy 5 drawing turned into a statewide split decision, with five jackpot tickets hitting and three of them landing in South Florida. Two of those South Florida winners came from Publix stores, and because the evening draw produced a tightly packed set of numbers, the top prize pool was carved up, leaving the evening winners with roughly $28,000 each. For the lucky ticket holders, the to-do list is now standard: sign the ticket, stash it somewhere safe, then head to a Florida Lottery district office to officially claim the cash.
Three South Florida winners, two at Publix
According to the Miami Herald, evening-winning tickets were sold at a North Miami Publix at 12800 Biscayne Blvd. and a Palm Beach Gardens Publix at 4101 Hood Rd., accounting for two of the three South Florida jackpot hits. The Herald also notes that another winning evening ticket came from a Jacksonville Publix at 5858 Atlantic Blvd., while a Boynton Beach 7-Eleven at 2605 W. Woolbright Rd. sold the remaining evening winner. Each of those evening tickets paid about $28,085 once the prize pool was split among multiple winners.
The winning combination
As reported by The Associated Press, the evening numbers were 22, 23, 24, 33 and 34, a near-sequential run that tends to be a popular pick with Fantasy 5 players. With so many people gravitating to that kind of pattern, the game’s top prize did not settle on a single ticket, it had to be shared across the matching plays.
Retail breakdown and the midday winner
The Miami Herald lists the evening winning retailers as the North Miami Publix at 12800 Biscayne Blvd., the Palm Beach Gardens Publix at 4101 Hood Rd., the Jacksonville Publix at 5858 Atlantic Blvd., and the Boynton Beach 7-Eleven at 2605 W. Woolbright Rd. Separate from the evening action, a Winn-Dixie in Palm Coast at 111 Flagler Plaza Drive sold the midday jackpot ticket, which was worth roughly $59,052. According to the Florida Lottery Winner’s Guide, tickets at these payout levels have to be validated and claimed through Florida Lottery district offices, not at the corner store where they were purchased.
How the game works and where to claim
The Fantasy 5 is a $1 pari-mutuel game, which means the top prize pool is split among all players who match all five numbers instead of being a fixed, guaranteed amount, per the Florida Lottery Winner’s Guide. Prizes of $600 or more must be claimed in person at a district office. The Lottery’s forms and contacts page lists district locations and weekday hours, including the Miami office at 14621 Oak Lane in Miami Lakes and the West Palm Beach office at 4360 Forest Hill Blvd., both open Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Winners are instructed to sign the back of the ticket, bring a valid photo ID and a completed claim form, and review the Lottery’s checklist before making the trip.
Publix's local streak
Publix locations keep showing up in South Florida winner rundowns, a small streak local coverage has been tracking. A recent Publix's local streak story underscored how a routine grocery run can suddenly turn into a Fantasy 5 payday. If you bought a ticket for Tuesday’s draws at any of the listed stores, it might be worth a second look at those numbers before the slip of paper disappears into a junk drawer forever.
