In 1997 Florida Lottery funds began going to Bright Futures, a program to help high schoolers afford college.

It's official... some USA states are reporting record lottery ticket sales. And it all goes to good causes as well as to the winners.

The Florida Lottery announced today another record-breaking year with more than $5.36 billion in sales.

The Lottery also expects to transfer a record $1.49 billion to help Florida’s students and schools.

Florida Lottery Secretary Cynthia O’Connell"Our primary goal is and always will be to generate as much money as possible for education," said Florida Lottery Secretary Cynthia O’Connell.

“We set our goals high at the beginning of each year, and with a collective effort from Lottery staff," she said.

"Our retailers and our loyal customers, we have once again exceeded our annual sales goal, resulting in record contributions to Florida’s student and schools."

For the past three years, the Florida Lottery has increased sales by hundreds of millions of dollars, resulting in the highest annual contribution to education in Lottery history.

Now in its 26th year, the Florida Lottery continues to implement creative and innovative products designed to appeal to its current players.

When the Florida Lottery began ticket sales on January 12, 1988, it became the first Southern state to launch a lottery.

In 2012, Florida was the third-ranked state in yearly lottery revenue with $4.45 billion.

Florida currently offers eight terminal games: Powerball; Florida Lotto; Cash 3; Play 4; Fantasy 5; Mega Money; Lucky Lines; and Mega Millions, which became available in Florida on May 15, 2013.

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TODAY'S PREDICTION*
For week ending 6 July 2014:
California SuperLotto Plus

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