LAKE CITY, Fla. — A Columbia County man successfully scratched his way to an extra $500,000 while playing a Florida Lottery game.

A Florida Lottery spokesperson reported that Joseph Demaio from Lake City had a stroke of luck when he visited the Tower Road Supermarket in Gainesville. The 50-year-old spent $50 on a $500,000 CASH BLOWOUT! ticket and claimed the top prize.

He went to claim the giant check in Tallahassee last month.

The $500,00 CASH BLOWOUT! game launched in August, offering 100 top prizes of $500,000. As of Monday, 87 remain with 1-in-264853 odds of winning. 

Demaio is one of several people in Northeast Florida who beat the odds, but the only winner so far to publicly claim it.

Two days after Demaio claimed his prize, another winning ticket was claimed from Large Food Store on East 21st Street.

In August, someone from Jacksonville bought a ticket from a RaceTrac gas station on Philips Highway. That same month, another winning ticket was purchased at Food Hub U.S. 1 in St. Augustine.