Out-of-state people have won millions with Florida lottery tickets. Is that legal?

C. A. Bridges, USA TODAY NETWORK - Florida
Updated ·4 min read

On Oct. 16, the Florida Lottery announced another big winner. Gary Thomas, 49, headed to Lottery Headquarters in Tallahassee in September to claim a top prize in the $150,000 a Year For Life scratch-off game with a one-time, lump sum payment of $2,440,000.

"It's still sinking in," he said, as lottery officials presented him with the oversized check. "I couldn't believe it! I still can't believe it!"

However, the Florida Lottery winner wasn't from Florida.

He's from Dothan, Alabama, about 20 minutes away from the Florida border. Thomas bought the $5 winning ticket at Lotto Discount Liquor at 5837 U.S. Highway 231 in Campbellton, about three miles south of Alabama. Is that legal?

Gary Thomas winner of $250k
Gary Thomas winner of $250k

Can you play the Florida Lottery if you live out of state?

Yes. According to the Florida Lottery, games can be played and won by anyone 18 years of age or older, regardless of age, citizenship, race or financial status. You don't have to be a Florida resident or even a U.S. resident, although non-U.S. residents get whacked with a much bigger tax bite (30% instead of 24%).

How to play, what to do if you win: Ultimate guide to the Florida Lottery, Powerball and Mega Millions

If you live out-of-state, do you have to come back to Florida to claim a Florida Lottery, Powerball or Mega Millions prize?

  • To claim a prize from out of state, winners must fill out the back of the winning lottery ticket and mail it to the claims office along with a Winner Claim Form and identification documentation

  • If you win $1 million or more in any prize, or any prize with an annual payment option, you must come to Lottery Headquarters in Tallahassee.

  • If you win from $600 to $1 million for games without an annual payment option you can mail it in or go to any district office to claim your prize, also in Florida. Prizes less than $600 can be claimed by mail or at any Florida lottery retailer.

  • If you win free tickets and claim by mail, you'll receive the monetary value of what you won. Florida lottery, Powerball, Mega Millions or scratch-off tickets may not be mailed across state lines, per federal law.

  • All Florida Powerball, Mega Millions, CASH4LIFE and Fast Play prizes must be claimed in Florida.

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Does Alabama have a state lottery?

Playing the lottery in Alabama — or Powerball or Mega Millions — is prohibited in the state constitution. For any Alabamians ready to road trip, neighboring states Tennessee, Mississippi, Georgia and, yes, Florida all have state lotteries.

Which states don't have a state lottery?

Alabama, Hawaii, Nevada and Utah all ban state and multistate lotteries in their state constitutions and do not have state lotteries. Alaska doesn't allow Powerball or Mega Millions but does have its own state lottery. However, Nevada's legislature passed a bill this year to establish a state lottery system that could go before voters in 2026.

Puerto Rico, which established the oldest modern state lottery in the United States in 1934 (first authorized by the King of Spain in 1814), participates in the Powerball, but not Mega Millions.

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Has anyone from out of state won big in the Florida Lottery, Powerball or Mega Millions?

Before Thomas, there was Alice Patricia Dawson of Frisco City, Alabama, who claimed $86,932,220 in an April 2015 Powerball she bought an hour away from the State Line Gift Shop in McDavid, Florida.

In April 2021, Hans Moorjani Moorjani, 46, of Colon, Panama bought a Florida Lotto ticket at a Shell station in Davie and won a $28 million prize, taking the lump sum of $20,856,061.

Cassandra Jane Holmes, 57, of Midland City, Alabama won $8 million with a Florida Lotto ticket from another Campbellton liquor store in March 2018, taking home $5,335,428.

In July 2017, Aura Alicia Dominquez Canto, 60, of Panama City, Panama bought a ticket in Campbellton that won $30 million, which worked out to a lump sum of $20,948,543.

Three months earlier, Renae Jean Fogarty of Frisco, Texas, won $8 million with a ticket she bought on vacation in Fort Pierce and claimed $5,503,312.

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Florida lottery, Powerball, Mega Millions: These visitors won big