JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A Florida man discovered that it really pays to clean your house.
James Kinder, 38, of Jacksonville, found an unscratched scratch-off ticket for The Fastest Road to $1,000,000 on his fireplace while cleaning his home, Florida Lottery officials said in a news release on Friday.
Kinder elected to take a one-time, lump sum payment of $790,000 before taxes, lottery officials said.
Kinder said the $30 scratch-off ticket had been on his fireplace for several weeks before he remembered it was there.
“I came across the un-scratched ticket while cleaning the house,” Kinder said in the news release. “When I scratched it, I realized it was actually a $1 million winner. I wish I would have found it sooner.”
Kinder bought his winning ticket at a Circle K store in Jacksonville. The retailer will receive a $2,000 bonus commission for selling the ticket.
The Fastest Road to $1,000,000 game was launched in February, and the cash Kinder won was one of 155 grand prizes in the promotion, lottery officials said.